Bankers from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will be among about 300 industry heavyweights from around the world who will join the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) next month for a summit on finding opportunities amid economic and political complexities after the Covid-19 pandemic. Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of the city’s de facto central bank, spoke with the Post in an October 5, 2023, said “Living with complexity” will be the theme of the second edition of the Global Financial Leaders’…
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00:00 So the HKMA organised the Global Financial Leaders Summit last November to deliver the
00:04 message to the wider world that Hong Kong was back.
00:07 Right.
00:08 Almost a year on, could you let us know how has the city been doing since that big declaration?
00:12 Right.
00:13 Well, last year it was also in early November that we hosted the first summit.
00:19 It was quite a tremendous success.
00:20 It was well attended by 260 heavyweights from around the world.
00:27 And I think I should also thank both our teams and also government departments for walking
00:32 the extra mile to make the guests really feel comfortable and welcome.
00:37 And they go away really seeing Hong Kong, renewing our vibes, having the vibrancy.
00:43 And one effect that we have not exactly foreseen before is the ripple effect.
00:48 The effect because these are all heavyweights, the opinion leaders, the influencers, when
00:53 they get back to their own institutions, they broadcast for us to their boards, to the management
01:00 team and also to their staff about what Hong Kong really is like.
01:05 And afterwards, we actually see a big stream of their management team coming to Hong Kong.
01:10 I still remember we hosted that in November.
01:14 The stream of C-suite executives came in from January.
01:18 And there were times when I have to see like six or seven of them in one day.
01:22 And then from January, February, we also see the stream of management team meetings coming
01:30 back in.
01:31 Even board meetings, they are starting to hold it in Hong Kong so that their board members
01:35 can really see the place.
01:37 And we're also seeing conferences coming back, those organized by the global banks and also
01:41 asset managers.
01:42 And it started in January, February.
01:45 In fact, we are organizing different conferences ourselves.
01:49 We find it extremely hard to find a hotel boardroom to host those conferences.
01:54 So you can see that that stream of conferences is continuing.
01:58 Just about two weeks ago, I was actually in four different conferences hosted by different
02:04 global banks.
02:05 I was told that in that week alone, there were five different conferences hosted by
02:11 the banks bringing their clients from around the world in.
02:14 And I think that's important.
02:16 And that actually, by bringing people in, they can actually see Hong Kong.
02:20 So we see that momentum gradually coming back.
02:26 And with all these vibes, we also see talents coming back.
02:30 During COVID, because of the restrictions, we saw some talents returning home or temporarily
02:35 relocated to other places.
02:38 But I was told by the financial institutions that from January, February, they start to
02:42 come back.
02:43 And more importantly, new talents from other countries, from overseas, are coming back
02:48 in to fill in the gaps.
02:50 Talent is extremely important.
02:51 And we are seeing that coming in.
02:53 And the government scheme, of course, the top talent scheme of bringing talents in is
02:57 extremely important to sustain the growth of Hong Kong's financial sector.
03:01 So from the summit last year to now, I can see the momentum building up quite well.
03:07 And I think it's really a good time to host the second edition to bring even more people
03:12 in, those who have not got a chance yet to come into Hong Kong and see for themselves,
03:17 the chance to get them in and continue to spread our story.
03:21 So this second edition of the summit, of course, is held in conjunction with the 30th anniversary
03:27 of HKMA in April.
03:29 Happy belated birthday, by the way.
03:31 So what is the theme of this year's summit?
03:34 What is your key message?
03:35 Well, the theme for this year's summit is "Living with Complexity."
03:40 If you look back to last year's summit, the theme was "Navigating Beyond Uncertainty."
03:47 This year, after one year, we hope that those uncertainties are gone.
03:53 But realistically, they're still with us.
03:55 Whether you're talking about the global economic slowdown, the uncertain path of inflation,
04:03 therefore the uncertain path of interest rates, geopolitics, or even the disruptions that
04:08 we are seeing in, for example, technology, generative AI, that makes the whole landscape
04:15 quite complex.
04:17 And we believe that these complexities will stay with us.
04:20 It's really up to us to really think about how to manage the risk arising from these
04:25 complexities and how to generate opportunities, quite importantly, from these complexities.
04:32 For example, technology is a huge opportunity that financial institutions can rely on.
04:37 So the theme is "Living with Complexity."
04:40 But of course, the second message, which is from Hong Kong's perspective, an important
04:46 message or purpose that we want by bringing all these heavyweights in, is for them to
04:52 come and see and feel Hong Kong.
04:55 Because whether we like it or not, there are still misguided perceptions overseas about
05:01 what Hong Kong is like.
05:02 I was told by some of our friends in the US and Europe that, "Hey, are you really quite
05:09 down and out?
05:10 The economy is not doing well, nobody's coming?"
05:12 Or some even ask whether it's safe to walk on the streets of Hong Kong.
05:16 It seems ridiculous from our perspective, but Xi is believing.
05:21 In addition to us going out to tell our story, a very effective way is to bring the heavyweights
05:27 to Hong Kong for them to come and feel the energy, the vibrancy, and also see the opportunities
05:34 here for them to talk to their clients, their staff, and they will very quickly know about
05:39 what the real on-the-ground situation in Hong Kong is.
05:42 And from there, again, like last year, we hope that all these heavyweights can bring
05:47 a positive message back to their home countries and also through the network, spread the right
05:54 perception from our perspective, of course, about Hong Kong.
05:58 So what else can you reveal about the program this year?
06:02 You're going to kick off with dinner at the Palace Museum again?
06:06 Right.
06:07 We will start with a welcome dinner at the Palace Museum.
06:11 Last year it was at the M+ Museum.
06:14 So this year we picked the Palace Museum where they can see the amazing treasures in the
06:20 museum.
06:21 There will be performances there, and then the next day there will be the first day summit
06:26 at the Four Seasons.
06:29 And it will be a full agenda.
06:31 The second day it will be more about asset management investments.
06:35 All together we have about 30, 40 speakers.
06:38 The agenda that we have for the main summit is like what I said, living with complexity,
06:44 ranging from how our speakers, the heavyweights, see the world as it is, with uncertain economic
06:53 path, uncertain inflation path, probably higher for longer interest rates, geopolitics coming
07:00 in, and also where ESG is in terms of disruptions.
07:06 Are we at a crossroads?
07:09 And where technology is.
07:11 Are they enhancing or generating risk for the financial sector?
07:16 And quite importantly, also the China story.
07:19 People overseas are very interested in the China story, and we have invited the mainland
07:25 financial regulators to come to talk about their views on the Chinese economy and also
07:32 the policies.
07:34 And hopefully mainland financial institutions will also participate.
07:38 And I should also add that for the first day summit, it will end with a special lunchtime
07:43 fireside chat to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the HKMA.
07:48 After all, it's our party.
07:50 So we really want to do a special lunchtime chat, but the details won't be in the program.
07:56 It will be a surprise.
07:57 Right.
07:58 Could you reveal how many numbers are you expecting to come this year, and how many
08:02 of those will be global heavyweights?
08:04 We have a total capacity of about 300 people, and it's filling up very fast.
08:10 Currently, we already got registration of almost 300 people already, mostly from overseas.
08:17 And we just did the count.
08:18 I actually did the count myself just now.
08:21 We've got 90 global CEOs or chairmen from the global financial institutions.
08:27 So 90 heavyweights.
08:29 And of these 90 heavyweights, we have invited about 30, 40 to be our speakers.
08:35 So it should be quite an exciting and thought-provoking seminar.
08:40 Thank you.
08:41 All right.
08:42 Thank you so much.
08:42 Thank you.
08:43 Thank you.
08:43 [END]