InvestHK promotes Hong Kong's business and supply chain management advantages at China International Supply Chain Expo
Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) Ms Loretta Lee attended the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing today (July 17). There, Ms Lee delivered remarks at the Thematic Event on Supply Chain Service to promote Hong Kong's business advantages and opportunities to Mainland and overseas companies and media representatives, encouraging enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's unique position as an international financial, shipping, and trade hub to establish their multinational supply chain management expertise.
Organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the CISCE is the world's first national-level expo focused on supply chains. InvestHK has joined the CISCE for two consecutive years and delivered speeches on Thematic Event on Supply Chain Service and Thematic Event on Advanced Manufacturing topics this year.
The Thematic Event on Supply Chain Service topic focuses on upgrading the industrial supply chain and explores new global collaboration efforts. In her remarks, Ms Lee promoted Hong Kong's unique advantages under the "one country, two systems" framework and the city's role as a gateway connecting Mainland China and global markets under the national dual circulation strategy. She said, "Hong Kong as a 'super connector' and a 'super value-adder' can help Mainland enterprises better cope with the international market and balance the stability and flexibility of the supply chain. The city has rich experience in supply chain management. From infrastructure, professional service talent, international supplier networks to government policy support, Hong Kong can fully meet enterprises' needs in different stages of business operation such as procurement, trade, and logistics. As a leading international financial centre, Hong Kong boasts a vibrant and diverse capital market. In the first half of this year, Hong Kong led the world in initial public offering fundraising, making it the ideal destination for corporate financing. I encourage Mainland enterprises to establish corporate treasury centres in Hong Kong to facilitate global expansion."
CCPIT Vice Chairman Mr Chen Jian'an also delivered a speech at the event.
On the same day, the Head of Transport, Logistics and Industrials at InvestHK, Mr Benjamin Wong, joined a thematic forum at the Thematic Event on Advanced Manufacturing, sharing insights on the innovation-driven development through green and low-carbon technologies. He noted that the demand for green and low-carbon solutions in industries is currently experiencing a growth momentum. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been supporting the development of the local innovation and technology sector through various measures, including enhanced research and development support, expanded funding channels, and strengthened collaboration among academia, industry, and the Government, with the aim of accelerating Hong Kong's transformation into a green tech hub. To further enhance green and sustainable economic development, InvestHK has established a dedicated sustainability team, which actively attracts overseas and Mainland enterprises with leading technologies and solutions in carbon neutrality to establish or expand their operations in Hong Kong.
Following the CISCE, InvestHK will host a roundtable onJuly 18to further discuss Hong Kong's role as a multinationalsupply chain management centre, and conduct in-depth discussions and exchanges with representatives of Beijing-based companies interested in expanding their business in Hong Kong. Ms Lee will deliver welcome remarks, encouraging Beijing companies to use Hong Kong as their multinational supply chain management centre. In the sharing session, Mr Wong and the Managing Director of Li & Fung Development (China) Ltd, Mr Chang Ka-mun, will discuss the latest environment and trends of global trade and supply chains, and how Hong Kong can help Mainland and overseas enterprises build global supply chain management expertise. Experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers and China Merchants Bank will also share insights at the event on Hong Kong's tax benefits and financial services for Mainland enterprises looking to expand internationally.
During the visit, the InvestHK delegation will meet with various enterprises to provide the latest updates on Hong Kong's latest policies and opportunities, thereby assisting them to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to expand overseas.
To download event photos, please visit: www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720327606368.
InvestHK promotes Hong Kong's business and supply chain management advantages at China International Supply Chain Expo Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
InvestHK promotes Hong Kong's business and supply chain management advantages at China International Supply Chain Expo Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
InvestHK promotes Hong Kong's business and supply chain management advantages at China International Supply Chain Expo 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
