Paul Chan backs Hong Kong to be world’s No 2 financial hub within 15 years Hong Kong’s finance chief has expressed confidence that the city will climb to at least second place in the global ranking of international financial centres within 10 to 15 years. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Wednesday at the HSBC Global Investment Summit that the city offered stability and prosperity in uncertain times, citing its strong gross domestic product growth of 3.5 per cent last year, as well as robust export performance and rising private investments. “We went through ups and downs over the decade. Hong Kong people are very agile, very flexible, and the business sector is extremely smart and intelligent. We always realign ourselves in response to changing geopolitics,” he said. “Look at Hong Kong now from the perspective of 10, 15 years later, I’m very confident Hong Kong surely will not be just number three in terms of international financial centre ranking, at least the second.” Hong Kong retained its position as Asia’s top financial centre and ranked third globally, according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index released last month. The city scored 756 points, just one point behind London and two points short of top-ranked New York, while edging Singapore by a single point. Hong Kong also held on to first place in fintech and maintained a leading position globally across key industry sectors, including banking, insurance and finance. The twice-yearly report assessed the competitiveness of the world’s major financial markets and was compiled by London-based think tank Z/Yen and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen. Authorities have forecast that Hong Kong’s economy will grow by 2.5 to 3.5 per cent this year. Chan noted that despite the trade war, the city’s merchandise exports rose by more than 20 per cent during the first two months of the year. He said the foundation for rapid growth lay in financial stability and security to manage volatility amid geopolitical tensions. He noted that Hong Kong had built a strong surveillance system across the market and created a buffer in the financial system. Chan added that he was confident in mainland China’s growth in the coming decade, highlighting Hong Kong’s gateway role serving the mainland and the world under the country’s 15th five-year development plan for 2026 to 2030. “We are upgrading the game. We are not just the gateway for foreign investors tapping the mainland market. We are also the gateway and the excellent platform for mainland companies going global,” he said. One of the key priorities in the country’s 15th five-year plan is to push forward high-quality development, encouraging mainland companies to go global, according to Chan. Hong Kong authorities had set up a task force to coordinate different sectors, the government and other statutory bodies to help these companies expand overseas and also support them with risk management and compliance issues, which opened up opportunities for the city, he said. “Hong Kong will be increasingly an important global financial centre, not just serving the mainland market but also here is the place, here is the platform that you can base your operations, you raise funds here to support your operations on the mainland or your operations across Asia,” he said. Economist Simon Lee Siu-po said the city needed to improve the diversity of its financial markets to move up the rankings. He said that Hong Kong was relatively weak in the bond market, adding that the quality and governance of the listed companies also needed to be strengthened. “Even if Hong Kong gets the No 2 ranking, it needs to be consistent and all-round across the stock market, bond market, fintech, insurance and fund management,” he said. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3350155/hong-kong-set-rise-no-2-global-financial-hub-within-15-years-paul-chan?pgtype=live (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post