Speech by CE at International Women's Day Reception 2026
Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at International Women's Day Reception 2026 today (March 8):
Allow me now to address our English-speaking friends. Today, we celebrate International Women's Day, a day of profound significance around the world. We are here this morning to honour the global contributions of women and to recognise the inspiring vision, leadership and resilience of women in our community.
Hong Kong women enrich different aspects of our society. Over the years, in so many ways, women have challenged prejudices, erased boundaries and embraced opportunities. And done so through remarkable achievements in government, business, the professions, academia, the arts, innovation, family life, and so much more. Women are a powerful source of energy for social progress, women's talent and determination are essential to Hong Kong's continuing success.
Last October, China, our country, hosted the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing. The international gathering brought together leaders and experts from around the world to advance gender equality and the cause of women everywhere. At the Meeting, President Xi Jinping noted that "women play an important role in creating, promoting and carrying forward human civilisation, and the international community has a shared responsibility to advance the cause of women".
Our country has long championed women's development, upholding gender equality as a fundamental policy priority. With the nation's support and a widening global vision, women in the Hong Kong SAR have been able to pursue their dreams and realise their full potential.
The Government has worked closely with the Women's Commission to expand opportunities for women. One of our flagship events, held in 2024, was the inaugural Family and Women Development Summit.
The second Summit will take place this month, on March 31. And I look forward to the enthusiastic participation of our partners across the community.
I've just shared in Cantonese about four traditional Chinese silk fabrics and how they resemble the qualities of Hong Kong women. Each fabric has its own character: one represents clarity and poise with which you balance family and career; another symbolises inclusive spirit, bringing people together and building consensus.
A third embodies resilience, soft yet unbreakable in the face of challenges. And the last captures women's confidence and grace as you represent Hong Kong on the world stage.
These four fabrics - clarity, inclusivity, resilience, and grace - are woven into the daily lives of women here in Hong Kong. They are the threads of women's character. And my hope, ladies, is that you will continue to illuminate every corner of this city with that same remarkable spirit.
I wish you all an inspiring International Women's Day, and continued happiness, health and success. Thank you!
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, attended the International Women's Day Reception 2026 today (March 8). Photo shows (front row, from left) the Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Clement Woo; the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Mr Li Shuangzhou; the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Mr Sun Shangwu; Mr Lee and his wife; Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR Mr Zhang Changwei; the Convenor of the Non-official Members of the Executive Council, Mrs Regina Ip; Deputy Director of the liaison office of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Mr Xie Zhixiang; the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn; the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms Carol Yip, and the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Patrick Li, at the reception. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, speaks at the International Women's Day Reception 2026 today (March 8). 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
