Speech by CE at 2025 Colloquium on International Law (with photos/video)
Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 2025 Colloquium on International Law today (July 4):
Commissioner Cui Jianchun (Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Professor Teresa Cheng (Co-Chairman of the Asian Academy of International Law), Dr Anthony Neoh (Co-Chairman of the Asian Academy of International Law), consuls-general, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. And welcome to Hong Kong. Welcome to the 2025 Colloquium on International Law.
Gathered here today, are some 200 legal professionals and government and institutional leaders – from Hong Kong, the Mainland and some 40 jurisdictions in Asia and around the world.
I would also like to extend a special welcome to His Excellency Dr Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol, Secretary-General of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, here with more than 30 delegates from the international organisation. Also, a special thanks to Mr Miguel de Serpa Soares, former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.
This year's Colloquium spotlights two key themes: the United Nations' 80th anniversary, and LawTech, AI (artificial intelligence) and the future of the international order. I was told that we have simultaneous interpretation by AI on the screen. All in the aspiration of bridging innovation and governance.
The establishment of the United Nations, in 1945, marked a new chapter in multilateralism, creating an international organisation responsible for collective action on global issues, with the goal of fostering peace, security and development.
China, our country, is a founding member of the UN (United Nations) and one of the UN Security Council's five permanent members. China actively participates in the UN, playing a significant role in shaping international law and responses to global issues.
Under the unique "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong enjoys unparalleled access to both the Mainland and the world. Hong Kong participates in various commissions and groups under the UN, as members of Chinese delegations, in accordance with the Basic Law.
In the eight decades since the UN's establishment, technology has transformed our world. Its endless reshaping of societies, and peoples, is also a UN priority. And that very much includes artificial intelligence, a fast-growing area in innovation and technology.
From trading floors and hospital wards, to schools and law courts, AI now permeates every sector – not as a distant future, but as today's operational heartbeat. Hong Kong, dedicated to developing into an international I&T (innovation and technology) centre, recognises this tidal shift. Mastering AI is no longer a competitive edge. It is the existential infrastructure for every industry and sector.
Last September, a UN Secretary-General's High-level Advisory Body on AI published the report "Governing AI for Humanity". It highlighted the need to boost global co-operation, noting that only an "inclusive and comprehensive approach to AI governance" can address the "multifaceted and evolving challenges and opportunities AI presents on a global scale".
Hong Kong is strategically positioned to promote international collaboration in advancing AI.
Under "one country, two systems", we have long been a "super connector" and "super value-adder", bringing together China and the rest of the world. And providing key value-adding professional services along the way.
The HKSAR Government actively promotes LawTech, including online dispute resolution and the use of AI.
Our Department of Justice has established a Consultation Group on LawTech Development, which dedicates its efforts to developing LawTech strategies for the legal and dispute resolution sector.
Last month, we held our first LexGoTech Roundtable, to advance the sector's understanding of LawTech and its applications, with focused discussions on the opportunities and challenges of LawTech and AI.
As for online dispute resolution, Hong Kong is one of seven economies, alongside such places as Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and the United States, to follow APEC's (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Collaborative Framework for Online Dispute Resolution of Cross-Border Business-to-Business Disputes. The Framework was designed to help businesses resolve disputes online through negotiation, mediation and arbitration.
We have also been collaborating with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, establishing a Hong Kong-based Project Office for collaboration with the Commission in 2020. The Project Office provides important support to the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform on Online Dispute Resolution, which converges international efforts, across different jurisdictions, to advance this form of dispute resolution. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a salient example of our dedication to international collaboration, and the development of technology for legal services.
The HKSAR Government fully supports the work of the United Nations, especially in promoting the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
Just over a month ago, the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation was signed here in Hong Kong, I'm pleased to say.
The International Organization for Mediation, or IOMed, will become the world's first inter-governmental, international organisation dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation, a peaceful means to maintain international peace and security, as stipulated in the Charter of the UN.
I am grateful to the Central Government for its support of Hong Kong, as well as the trust from other signing states, for giving us the honour of serving as the IOMed's headquarters. It will be based in the former Wan Chai Police Station, a historic architecture that has long been part and parcel of Hong Kong's law and order, and I am hopeful it will open by the end of the year.
The IOMed's mandate is clear and compelling: to resolve international disputes based on mutual respect and understanding. And it will be available to all countries, regardless of their culture, language or legal system.
That, ladies and gentlemen, will certainly improve global governance. And promote world peace and stability.
My thanks to the Asian Academy of International Law and its Foundation, as well as the Chinese Society of International Law, for once again organising this seminal international law event, for bringing prominent international legal professionals and speakers to Hong Kong to discuss the latest issues, concerns and promising developments in law.
And while you're here, make good time to discover what the world city of Hong Kong has to offer – in arts, culture and entertainment, on our islands and coastal areas, our Michelin-starred restaurants, dim sum parlours, pubs, diners and cafes – all of them brimful of the best of East and West. Enjoy it all.
I wish you all a rewarding Colloquium, and the best of legal business, and mediation, in the year to come.
Thank you.
Speech by CE at 2025 Colloquium on International Law Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by CE at 2025 Colloquium on International Law Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference
Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the CUHK EMBA Annual Conference today (May 9):
Professor Dennis Lo (Vice-Chancellor and President, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)), Professor Lin Zhou (Dean, CUHK Business School), Macy (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Ms Macy Chan), Michael (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Mr Michael Chan), CUHK EMBA alumni and students, business leaders, distinguished guests and friends,
Good evening.
Addressing a room full of Executive MBA students and graduates is both an honour and a privilege. There is a particular kind of ambition in this room — one that is not content with success alone, but driven to understand it more deeply, in the belief that better ideas lead to greater impact.
That kind of commitment — to learning, to growth, to asking harder questions — is precisely what today's conversation is about.
The theme of this conference, which focuses on innovation and agile leadership, could not be more timely. Most of us here have lived through the Internet age and the smartphone revolution, which made communication faster and more seamless than anyone had imagined.
Today, the rise of AI places us at a more fundamental tipping point. Technology is not merely changing the answers — it is redefining the questions themselves.
Consider what is already within reach. An AI assistant can learn your preferences, curate a personalised shortlist, and simply ask for your confirmation. We should even ask whether the smartphone and the search engine will remain our primary gateways to the digital world, or whether something altogether new is already taking shape.
To draw an analogy, the power of technology does not lie in drawing the old map with greater precision. It lies in revealing how much of that map remains uncharted — and in showing us that entirely new maps, with new co-ordinates, are being drawn.
This redefinition is unfolding across three dimensions simultaneously.
First, the redefinition of products. Products are no longer discrete, standalone objects. A smart car is a vehicle, but also a mobile platform for data. An insurance policy can be a contract, but equally a dynamic reflection of health data. Innovation today is born from cross-sector convergence and continuous evolution.
Second, the redefinition of services. Services are no longer delivered solely by enterprises. They emerge from collaborative networks of people and AI. But the more profound shift is in what customers now expect. In the past, good service meant reaching the right person quickly. Today, customers expect a solution that anticipates their needs before articulating them. This requires a new architecture of service delivery: human and machine, with AI handling the scale, the speed, and the personalisation that no human team alone could sustain.
Third, and most importantly, the redefinition of business models. In the past, we sought optimal solutions within established frameworks — when demand rose, we expanded capacity; when service needs grew, we opened more branches. Technology invites us to break out of those frameworks entirely. Intelligent manufacturing means that "economies of scale" is no longer the only answer; flexible supply chains have made customised, on-demand production the new normal.
These three redefinitions are opening a commercial frontier unlike anything we have seen before. But if the benefits of technology accrue only to a small circle, its power remains fundamentally constrained. This brings me to the second message I want to leave with you today: inclusivity.
Inclusivity is not charity. Yet it is the smartest business strategy available. The unmet needs of the broader public represent the largest and most underserved market opportunity in existence. When you make quality healthcare, education and financial services accessible and affordable to ordinary residents, you are not serving a group in need of handouts — you are unlocking a vast market that traditional business models have consistently overlooked.
Hong Kong has a distinctive role to play here. We can be a co-architect of standards, a hub for capital, and a bridge between innovation and real-world deployment — from clinical validation of smart healthcare, to green technology financing, to regulatory sandboxes for fintech. Our contribution draws not only on institutional strengths and international networks, but on our genuine commitment to broad-based participation.
Yet inclusive products and services are only the first step. The deeper dimension is empowerment.
History reminds us that the dividends of technological revolution need to be actively guided to reach the many. In the age of steam, and again in the Internet era, early gains concentrated among capital owners and top-tier talent. But today we have the opportunity to write a different story. AI, as an amplifier of human capability, is already enabling what was previously unimaginable: a solo entrepreneur, with the right tools and the right vision, can build a unicorn.
In other words, the unit of competitive advantage is shifting — from the size of your team to the skill with which you orchestrate your tools.
Our mission should be to make that shift available to everyone. To turn individual readiness into collective prosperity, and to ensure that the productivity gains of AI flow broadly across the society.
This is precisely why, in this year's Budget, I placed such emphasis on the "AI Training for All" initiative.
We are not trying to turn everyone into an engineer. We are ensuring that workers, managers, SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) owners, and ordinary residents become capable collaborators with AI: people who can access it, use it effectively, and put it to work as their assistant.
That may sound ambitious, but consider this: if AI can one day be as intuitive as the smartphone, then mass adoption is not difficult to imagine at all. Just as computers once migrated from specialist facilities into offices and homes, AI will find its way into everyone's daily work and life.
For business leaders, it may be tempting to think of AI as "digital employee" that can replace existing workers. But think of a different framing: equipping your workforce with powerful digital assistants can achieve productivity gains, while also freeing your people to do what humans do best — create, imagine and innovate.
Companies that take those extra steps, and think those extra moves ahead, will find that an empowered workforce is also a more innovative one.
All in all, the power of technology must ultimately be measured by its contribution to inclusive growth. And inclusive growth, in the end, depends on, yes, commercial acumen — but also empathy, compassion, and the conviction that a rising tide should lift all boats. I can see that those qualities live in this room.
I will close with this thought. Someone once joked that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. With AI, let us never fall into the same trap — in our race to price every efficiency gain, let us not lose sight of the deeper value we are trying to create: a society where the fruits of innovation are broadly shared, and where technology lifts not just the fortunate few, but everyone willing to reach for it.
So here is my ask: let us grow the pie together. And make sure we cut it well.
Thank you very much.
Source: AI-found images
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Source: AI-found images
