The 19th Asian Financial Forum will be Held for Two Days Starting from January 26th, with a "Global Industry Summit" Session Newly Added

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau will host the 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) from January 26th to 27th, with a new "Global Business Summit" session added for the first time.

The 2025 AFF, Photo source: reference image

The Bureau previously stated on its social media that 2026 marks the beginning of the national 15th Five-Year Plan, a crucial blueprint that will guide a new chapter of high-quality development over the next five years. The Plan emphasizes the need to develop new productive forces tailored to local conditions, facilitate the smooth flow of domestic and international dual circulation, deepen reform and opening up, and promote the deep integration of green and low-carbon transition with the digital economy, which not only points the direction for the nation's economic and social development, but also brings significant opportunities and new missions to Hong Kong as an international financial hub. In the following days, Hong Kong will proactively integrate into and serve the overall national development, leveraging its unique advantages to help the real economy move towards high-quality development.

The financial industry of Hong Kong has always played a vital bridging role between the Mainland and the world. In the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong would further promote the deep integration of finance and the real economy. In the past, Hong Kong has consistently supported global trade and investment based on its free and open market environment, sound legal system, and its financial system aligned with international market. In the future, Hong Kong will accelerate the transformation into a professional services hub, providing enterprises with comprehensive support encompassing trade finance, supply chain management, risk management, and innovative investment, etc. Such a direction aligns closely with national policies, particularly echoing goals such as enhancing the self-sufficiency and controllability of the industrial chain, developing advanced manufacturing clusters, and promoting high-level opening-up, etc. Hong Kong's financial services are moving beyond capital flows to the real economy with deep empowerment, helping enterprises enhance resilience and seize new opportunities amidst the reconstruction of the global supply chain.

The Asian Financial Forum, Photo source: asianfinancialforum.com

To facilitate the process, the 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) will be held from January 26th to 27th, with a new "Global Business Summit" session added for the first time. The forum, themed "Working Together Amidst Changes, Achieving Win-Win Outcomes in the New Era," will bring together global financial and industrial leaders to discuss how to achieve win-win outcomes in the complex and volatile international environment. Expected to attract over 3,600 participants from 60 countries and regions, with over 80% being CEOs or senior decision-makers of well-known enterprises, the forum will cover hot topics such as the outlook of the global economy, asset and wealth management, green finance, and sustainable transformation, etc., with a focus on discussing how finance can serve the real economy more effectively.

The first day of the forum will feature the opening ceremony, focusing on the macroeconomic situation and multilateral cooperation, as well as a signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding related to the development of the gold market, which is an important step in promoting the development of Hong Kong's gold market. Moreover, the latest plan of strengthening the construction of the central gold clearing system will be released, preparing for future interconnection between Hong Kong and the Mainland market. Such a movement not only echoes the national strategy of building a strong financial nation, but also provides global investors with more comprehensive risk avoidance and asset allocation tools, to establish Hong Kong's position as an international gold trading hub. A special forum will also be held on the same day to deeply analyze the latest trends in the global gold market and provide investors with forward-looking insights.

The Global Business Summit, Photo source: asianfinancialforum.com

The Global Business Summit, held on the second day, will mark a significant upgrade of the forum's content. The summit will focus on high-growth potential industries, including artificial intelligence and technology, biomedicine, robotics, new consumption, and green energy, etc., promoting Mainland enterprises to "expand international market" and attract international enterprises to "invest the Chinese market" through keynote speeches, panel discussions, and project matching. As a two-sided platform, Hong Kong will assist enterprises in seeking new opportunities in the global value chain, promote industrial upgrading and innovative development, which aligns with the innovation-driven development and higher-level opening-up emphasized in the 15th Five-Year Plan, aiming to promote technological self-reliance and sustainable growth.

Furthermore, the forum will feature an "AFF Deal-making" themed area, providing one-on-one project matching and investment exchange, covering key industries such as environmental energy, fintech, consumer goods, deep technology, and medical technology, etc. The exhibition area will also present several themed exhibitions, including the "FutureGreen Showcase" showcasing global green finance solutions, the "InnoVenture Salon" focusing on startups, and the "Global Investment Zone" introducing investment opportunities in various countries, allowing participants to not only obtain new insights, but also explore cooperation potential.

Photo source: asianfinancialforum.com

As the 15th Five-Year Plan embarks, Hong Kong is actively integrating into the national development strategy, enabling finance to better serve the real economy as well as support innovation and sustainable development. The Asian Financial Forum and the Global Business Summit will be invaluable platforms where financial professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors, can all expand their network, broaden horizons, and create new opportunities. All sectors are welcome to participate and join hands to seize the development opportunities in the new era, moving towards a more prosperous future.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who is seen as the potential political heir of 80-year-old President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has resigned, according to a decision published in Brazil’s official gazette Friday.

Haddad, who lost against former President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 run-off vote, said Thursday he will run for governor of Sao Paulo state. He will likely be up against current Gov. Tarcísio de Freitas, an ally of the embattled far-right ex-leader who has said he will run for reelection in the state.

Haddad was replaced by Dario Durigan, according to the decision signed by Lula. Durigan had been executive-secretary of the finance ministry.

“I don’t run in elections to bargain, I run to win,” Haddad said Thursday during an event in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, in Sao Paulo state. “Political victory is always possible: you just have to present yourself with integrity and a strong plan."

Haddad is unlikely to win against de Freitas, who is currently leading in the polls, but running for governor will give him more prominence on the national stage, said Paulo Henrique Cassimiro, a politics professor at Rio de Janeiro State University.

Lula's Workers’ Party “is really counting on him, including for Lula’s succession,” said Cassimiro. “Even if he loses, running brings a very large amount of political capital, raises the person’s profile and makes the candidate’s name more widely known.”

In the event of a Lula victory — who announced his bid for reelection last October — Haddad could return as finance minister, Cassimiro said.

Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president ’s eldest son who has also said he will run for president, are neck and neck in a hypothetical run-off vote between the pair, according to recent polls.

During the event in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Lula said the political situation in Brazil was “very grave.”

“If we don’t bring forward the best people we have in each city and each state, and if we don’t take up the fight to defend democracy, we run the risk, through inaction, of handing democracy back once again to the fascists,” the left-wing president said.

Haddad ran for president in 2018 because Lula was in prison. Lula spent 19 months behind bars, but the Supreme Court later annulled his convictions, paving the way for him to run against Bolsonaro in 2022, whom he defeated.

Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup despite that electoral defeat.

While at the helm of Brazil’s finance ministry, Haddad pushed through huge changes in how the country taxes goods and services, a proposal that had been in the works for decades, as well as a popular income tax reform.

But his term as finance minister was not always smooth. In 2024, memes nicknaming Haddad ‘Taxad’ — a pun combining tax and his surname — flooded the internet after a tariff on cheap international online shopping generated controversy.

Carla Beni, an economist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said that one of Durigan’s challenges will be managing the impacts of the Iran war on Brazil’s economy.

Last week, Lula's government announced a temporary federal tax relief on diesel as energy prices around the world soar. The financial loss for Brazil's public accounts will be compensated by a 12% tax on crude exports, the government said.

“A very intense war like the one we’re seeing in the Middle East is something quite complex for Durigan to manage,” Beni said.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva applauds during a ceremony announcing outgoing Finance Minister Fernando Haddad's candidacy for governor of Sao Paulo state in the October elections, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Outgoing Finance Minister Fernando Haddad speaks at a ceremony announcing his candidacy for governor of Sao Paulo state in the October elections, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and outgoing Finance Minister Fernando Haddad shake hands during a ceremony announcing Haddad's candidacy for governor of Sao Paulo state in the October elections, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)