2024 Greater Bay Area Global Investment Promotion Conference Held in Guangzhou

News

2024 Greater Bay Area Global Investment Promotion Conference Held in Guangzhou

2024-11-11 18:26 Last Updated At：18:30

GUANGZHOU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 11, 2024--

On November 8, the 2024 Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area took place in Guangzhou, gathering leaders from 650 Fortune Global 500 companies and representatives from 89 countries. Co-hosted by Guangdong and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, the event showcased the region’s progress and investment potential five years after the launch of the Greater Bay Area Development Plan.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241111695720/en/

Huang Kunming, Party Secretary of Guangdong, opened the conference with a keynote address, inviting global investors and talents to collaborate in advancing the GBA’s status as a leading hub for innovation and connectivity. “Over the past five years, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have forged new ties in industry and technology. We welcome partners worldwide to join us in building a world-class bay area,” he said.

Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao reiterated China's commitment to supporting the GBA’s high-level development, pledging further integration efforts across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. Speaking on Hong Kong’s role, Chief Executive John Lee emphasized the city’s goal of becoming a global financial, shipping, and trading center, attracting international investment by enhancing regional connectivity and economic collaboration. Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng highlighted Macao’s unique status as a free port and platform for Sino-Portuguese cooperation, emphasizing its alignment with international business standards.

Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong shared that Guangdong ranks first in regional innovation capabilities and serves as an incubator for new technologies and business models. “Our business environment continues to lead, recognized for four consecutive years as the best in China,” Wang stated, noting that ecological and green development are core to the province's growth strategy.

The conference received positive responses from global business leaders, including BASF’s CEO Markus Kamieth, Wilmar International’s Chairman Kuok Khoon Hong, and Exxon Mobil’s CEO Darren W. Woods, who shared their experiences and visions for investment in the GBA. The event facilitated 1,933 projects, with a total investment of 2.26 trillion yuan, adding to the region’s dynamic growth. Notably, 76.8 percent of projects from past conferences have started, amounting to over 1 trillion yuan in progress.

As part of the event, Wang Weizhong led a roundtable for multinational executives to exchange insights on investment and operational plans, providing an open forum to discuss business interests and receive feedback for future development in the GBA.

Melinda French Gates plans to match $1M in GivingTuesday gifts to groups that support women

2024-12-03 22:58 Last Updated At：23:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Melinda French Gates is offering to match up to $1 million in gifts to two nonprofit organizations to help spur donations on GivingTuesday, which has become a major annual fundraising day for nonprofits.

For more than a decade, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, charitable organizations have asked for donations or other support from their networks.

“It’s a great time to remind people that we’re better off when we give something back and we all have something to give back,” said French Gates in an interview, speaking about her enthusiasm for GivingTuesday. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was an early supporter of GivingTuesday, which started as a hashtag and a project at the 92nd Street Y in New York and has since become its own organization.

Last year, donors gave an estimated $3.1 billion on GivingTuesday, but the overall number of people who participated declined. Asha Curran, CEO of the nonprofit GivingTuesday, who calculated that estimate, said matches like French Gates' help catalyze people to give.

“We really share a commitment to the idea also that philanthropy is not just in the hands of the ultra wealthy," she said. "That it really takes everyone to contribute to a healthy society through generosity.”

Una Osili, associate dean at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, says that even if fewer households are giving, donations may be holding steady because those who donate are giving more.

“The optimist in me would certainly say there are lots of reasons to think that giving will at least hold steady," Osili said. "But what we’ve seen in the past few years is that inflation especially, even though it’s moderated, is a concern for many everyday households.”

French Gates, through her organization Pivotal, plans to match up to $500,000 in donations to two organizations — Vote Mama Foundation, which supports mothers running for political office, and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, which advocates for people caring for others. The organizations have 10 days to raise the funds and will direct donors to give through the nonprofit crowdfunding platform Every.org, which will track the donations that will be matched.

“This was Melinda. This was a complete surprise to us,” said Liuba Grechen Shirley, founder and CEO of Vote Mama Foundation.

Her organization wants to make it easier for mothers to hold political office, from local school boards to the Senate. She founded the organization after running for Congress in 2018 when she successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission to use campaign funds to pay for childcare. Now, all federal candidates can pay for childcare with campaign funds and many states have passed similar laws.

“It’s used by men. It’s used by women. It’s used by moms and dads and Democrats and Republicans,” Grechen Shirley said. “But the majority of funds are used by women, and a majority of those funds are used by women of color. So it really does have the ability to transform the political landscape.”

Through her giving and advocacy, French Gates has championed paid family leave, support for caregivers and making child care less expensive. She endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race but said that Harris' defeat won't stop her from continuing her work.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers is one of the first organizations to speak out about the work of caregiving, French Gates said. Paurvi Bhatt, who leads the institute, said French Gates had a long and cherished relationship with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away last year.

“It is based on a hand-in-glove relationship we’ve had for a number of years,” Bhatt said of the matching gift.

This public match on GivingTuesday is the latest commitment French Gates has made since stepping down from the Gates Foundation in May. (French Gates and Bill Gates, her ex-husband and the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, announced their divorce in 2021.) She pledged $1 billion to support women and families over two years. That included $250 million to support improving women's health globally and she gave 12 leaders each $20 million to distribute to nonprofit organizations of their choice before the end of 2026.

“The reason I’ve come out so strongly saying, ‘This is what I am doing next,’ is because I wanted people to know I’m not going away,” said French Gates. “My values are still here. And this work around ‘How do we make a more equitable society?’ There is so much work to be done in the United States.”

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Pivotal Ventures.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.