Paul Chan Highlights Hong Kong-Italy Ties at Italian Chamber Gala Dinner

Speech by FS at Gala Dinner of Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao

Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at theGala Dinner of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao today (November 7):

Ambassador Ambrosetti (Ambassador of Italy to China, Mr Massimo Ambrosetti),Consul General Ficarra (Consul General of Italy to Hong Kong and Macao, Mr Carmelo Ficarra), Ambassador Harvey Rouse (Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao), Mr Davide De Rosa (President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Buona sera. Good evening. It is truly a pleasure to join you once again at the Annual Gala Dinner of the Italian Chamber of Commerce. This is a splendid and memorable evening - a celebration of enduring friendship, warm company and great fun, as well as a valuable opportunity for networking and forging deeper co-operation.

This evening reminds me of the many qualities that connect Hong Kong and Italy - not just by fine cuisines, great wines and designer handbags, but also by our shared passion for creativity, craftsmanship and elegance. Whether it is the style and sophistication of Italian design, or the dynamism of Hong Kong's business and cultural scenes, we are both driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Last year at this very dinner, I spoke about Hong Kong's role as the gateway to the Chinese Mainland and the broader Asian region. Tonight, I would like to expand on that, particularly in light of the global geoeconomic landscape and China's development strategy.

Despite shifting tides of geopolitics, Hong Kong continues to be open, welcoming, and firmly committed to free trade and investment. Under the "one country, two systems" framework, we proudly serve as a "super connector" and "super value-adder", linking businesses, capital, people, ideas and opportunities across borders.

This strategy has proven to be both right and rewarding. We are seeing renewed confidence and optimism in Hong Kong by global investors and businesses. The remarkable surge in our stock market, and growing international recognition of Hong Kong's strengths and competitiveness, are clear and encouraging indicators of this positive development.

We continue to be ranked as the world's freest economy, and we stand among the top three global financial centres. We came third globally in international competitiveness according to the IMD (International Institute for Management Development). Earlier this year, all three major international credit rating agencies reaffirmed Hong Kong's strong credit ratings.

These encouraging recognitions motivate us to go further and to chart new frontiers.

Last year, I also shared about Hong Kong's commitment to innovation and technology. We stay on course, striving to build an even more vibrant technology sector to drive our next phase of growth. That will diversify our economic structure and provide more quality career opportunities for our people. Our focus is on AI and data science, biotech, fintech, new energy and new materials - areas that we hold clear competitive advantages.

And the carrier of our vision is the Northern Metropolis. We are accelerating its development through two major approaches.

First, policy innovation. We are dismantling barriers and embracing bold, flexible development models - such as large-scale land disposals - to fast-track integrated development of land, infrastructure and industries. More flexible, tailor-made incentive packages will be offered to attract top-notch global enterprises.

Second, further deepening cross-boundary collaboration with other cities in the Greater Bay Area. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong co-operation zone is a focal point, with innovative policies. For example, seamless flow of capital, goods, talent, data and even biosamples in this zone, plus a streamlined regulatory process to shorten the time to market of drugs and medical devices developed there. This zone will be very attractive to firms in AI, biotech and pharmaceutical products.

Italian companies and start-ups are most welcome to be part of this exciting journey. Set up your R&D (research and development) centres here. Collaborate with our universities and research institutions. Establish advanced manufacturing facilities. Explore our thriving innovation and technology ecosystem.

Above all, we invite Italian businesses to make use of Hong Kong as your platform to expand into the Chinese Mainland and the broader Asian region. And our vibrant financial sector stands ready to help them in raising the funds needed to support their business expansion.

As China advances its high-level two-way opening up, we are elevating our strategic role as a two-way platform - helping Hong Kong and Mainland businesses go global, while helping foreign businesses to seize the opportunities in China and Asia through our city.

I am delighted to share that later this month, I will lead a high-level business delegation to Milan. The delegation will include representives from the Government and related public organisations, business associations, and about 30 to 40 Hong Kong and Mainland enterprises from sectors such as finance, medical and health, green and sustainability, transport and logistics, as well as professional services.

We will be there to explore partnership opportunities with Italian businesses - to invest in Italy, expand further into Europe, and help bring more Italian businesses into the immense opportunities of China and Asia.

Before I close, allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Consulate-General for your steadfast support and partnership over the years. Your efforts have played a vital role in strengthening the ties and friendship between our communities, and fostering more collaboration in business and cultural exchanges.

May your businesses flourish, your connections grow stronger, and may our friendship continue to deepen and thrive.

Grazie. Thank you.

Source: AI-found images

Speech by FS at Gala Dinner of Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by FS at Gala Dinner of Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images

Keynote speech by SITI at dinner reception co-hosted by London ETO and Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland

Following is the keynote speech by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at a dinner reception co-hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London and the Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland on May 13 (Helsinki time):

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. It is a great honour to join you here in Helsinki on this beautiful spring evening during my first official visit to the Nordic region.

Finland has long been recognised as a global leader in digitalisation, mobile communications, sustainability, and innovation. Yet, we believe all innovations need gateways — where innovation can scale, capital can flow, and ideas can meet markets. That is where Hong Kong enters the story.

Innovation and technology (I&T) has always been on the top agenda of the Hong Kong SAR Government. In 2022, we promulgated the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint — a strategic roadmap to develop Hong Kong into an international I&T Centre. Guided by this Blueprint, we are building a comprehensive I&T ecosystem anchored by three major I&T Parks and five key R&D (research and development) institutions, with strategic focus on life and health technologies, AI and robotics, as well as advanced manufacturing and new energy. This framework ensures that every stage of the innovation, from basic research to commercialisation to market, is well taken care of in terms of space, funding and policy support.

Our determination is reflected in our robust I&T investment, including three HK$10-billion landmark funding initiatives, approximately a combined investment of 3.25 billion euros. These schemes include the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme which drives the transformation of R&D outcome into real application and commercialisation, and the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme that supports the set up of smart production lines in Hong Kong, as well as the I&T Industry-Oriented Fund – a funds-of-funds to be launched this year to channel market capital to invest in emerging and future industries of strategic importance.

Besides, we have committed an additional HK$10 billion each to accelerate the development of two of our most strategic I&T innovation zones, namely the Hetao Hong Kong Park (the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone) and the San Tin Technopole.

Uniquely situated along the Shenzhen River, the Hetao Hong Kong Park leverages Hong Kong's unique advantages under "one country, two systems" and Shenzhen's comprehensive manufacturing ecosystem. As a natural extension of the Hetao Hong Kong Park, San Tin Technopole offers R&D, prototyping and production in one integrated corridor. Together, they form a complete research-to-market chain. For Finnish tech firms seeking to enter Asia, the Hetao Hong Kong Park and San Tin Technopole offer unlimited synergy. They are not merely I&T parks, but launchpads for global success, linking you up with the ease and advantages of doing business in Hong Kong, as well as the vast market of the Chinese Mainland.

As with all other places around the world, AI has become the strategic engine of the next stage of development of Hong Kong. We see AI not only as a practical force that can enhance productivity and transform industries, but also a tool to improve daily life and enhance living quality of every walks of life. To this end, the Government has launched over a hundred of digital government and smart city initiatives, with half of these initiatives involving the application of big data analytics and AI technology.

Hong Kong is home to five world's top 100 universities, including three of the world's top 30 in Data Science and AI by subject. Our flagship R&D initiative, InnoHK, has brought together more than 30 world-renowned universities and institutes from 12 economies. Among the 38 R&D laboratories, 16 of them focuses on AI and robotics technologies. One of these, the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center, had successfully launched a series of generative AI applications built on our own developed large language model. With the new AI Research and Development Institute to be operated soon, we are confident that AI development in Hong Kong will accelerate further.

We are also building the digital infrastructure for the future. The Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster will deliver 180,000 PFLOPS (peta-floating point operations per second) of computing power by 2032 — 36 times today's capacity — to meet the fast-growing demands of the AI industry and develop Hong Kong into an international data hub.

We are happy to see that our I&T strategy is delivering visible result. Hong Kong I&T ecosystem is thriving. Notably, 20 unicorns have been born in Hong Kong. The number of startups has surged by 40 per cent since 2021, reaching 5 200 in 2025. We ranked 4th in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025, and first in Asia and fourth globally in the World Talent Ranking 2025. Meanwhile, together with Shenzhen and Guangzhou, we formed the world's number one innovation cluster, powering a market of over 87 million in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

As a "super connector" and "super value-adder", Hong Kong offers an open and globally connected economy supported by world-class research capability and infrastructure, a deep pool of international talents, a bilingual working culture, low and simple tax and robust IP protection. Hong Kong is within a five-hour flight of most major cities and markets in Asia, reaching half of the world's population. All these provide fertile ground for overseas companies and people to grow, develop and succeed in Hong Kong.

We already see this synergy in action. Over the past few years, we have facilitated more than 600 leading I&T or high potential enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong, including half of the global top 10 pharmaceutical companies and some IT giants. We sincerely welcome more tech companies and talents from Finland, and the wider Nordic region, to connect with Hong Kong, for business, for investment, and for global I&T collaboration.

Nordic calmness and Hong Kong dynamism may seem different, but together we form a powerful combination. I warmly invite all of you to visit Hong Kong, experience our I&T ecosystem, and explore the possibilities that await. Let us build new bridges between the two economies and shape a sustainable and innovative future. Thank you, and I wish you all a wonderful evening.

Keynote speech by SITI at dinner reception co-hosted by London ETO and Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases