HKETO in Washington DC Hosts Panel on Hong Kong's Resilient Business Environment and Global Standing

HKETO, Washington DC promotes Hong Kong as international centre for finance and trade

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC (HKETO, Washington DC), hosted on June 24 (Washington time) a panel discussion co-organised with the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham) on Hong Kong’s business environment and its role as an international centre for finance and trade.

The event, presented under the Economic and Trade Express platform, brought together members and representatives of the US-China Business Council, as well as a cross-section of private sector representatives, US federal and local government officials, business consultancies, think tanks, higher education institutions, diplomats, media, and professionals from various sectors.

The Director of the HKETO, Washington DC, Ms Elania Luk, welcomed attendees, and remarked on Hong Kong's unique ability and competitiveness to weather global headwinds. "Hong Kong will continue to do what it has done best: adapt". She stated that in response to past challenges, Hong Kong had embraced change and leveraged its core strengths, namely commitment to a free-market philosophy; a simple, low tax regime; prudent fiscal policies; and the free flow of capital, information, goods, and talent.

Ms Luk shared the news that Hong Kong moved up from third place to be ranked the second-most competitive economy in the world in the International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026.

She also noted that five of Hong Kong's universities are in the world's top 100, according to the recently released Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) 2027 World University Rankings. Ms Luk noted that while the University of Hong Kong held on to the 11th position, the Chinese University of Hong Kong rose an astonishing 14 places to 18th. "The rise of our universities within the ranking demonstrates our city's growing appeal for international talent and its stature as a global higher-education hub," Ms Luk said.

Following her remarks, Ms Luk moderated a panel discussion featuring the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Mr David Butts; the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Dr Eden Woon; Partner at the Asia Group Mr George Chen; Managing Director of Peak Capital Mr John Ying; and the Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of Invest Hong Kong, Ms Xie Yi.

The panellists offered their assessments of Hong Kong's business environment and the hallmarks of the city's resiliency. They are in general optimistic about Hong Kong's outlook, core advantages and business environment. They also discussed how the American business community can leverage Hong Kong’s value proposition.

The event coincided with AmCham's annual doorknock to Washington, DC. Mr Butts spoke of the importance of the annual doorknock, saying its mission was two-fold. "To share stories of American businesses operating in Hong Kong and to learn about Washington’s current thinking about Hong Kong," Mr Butts said.

Attendees network during a post-event reception. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Panelists express their views on Hong Kong's role as a global centre for finance and trade. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director of the HKETO, Washington DC, Ms Elania Luk, poses with (from second left) Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Mr David Butts; the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Dr Eden Woon; Partner at the Asia Group Mr George Chen; Managing Director of Peak Capital Mr John Ying; and the Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of Invest Hong Kong, Ms Xie Yi. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director of the HKETO, Washington DC, Ms Elania Luk, moderates a panel discussion on Hong Kong's role as a global centre for finance and trade. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director of the HKETO, Washington DC, Ms Elania Luk, delivers welcoming remarks. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Government to introduce Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2026 into LegCo

The Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2026 was gazetted today (June 26) to introduce a series of reforms to the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) (see Annex).

The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau said, "The MCHK performs important functions such as accreditation of local medical school programmes and medical interns' training upon their graduation, registration of medical practitioners, Licensing Examination for non-locally trained medical practitioners, continuing medical education and formulation of professional codes and guidelines, and handling complaints concerning professional conduct of medical practitioners. They are the vital components in ensuring the high quality and high efficiency of the healthcare system in Hong Kong.

"To enhance the executive-led structure and promote good governance, the Health Bureau has proposed to amend the Medical Registration Ordinance (MRO) after a comprehensive review of the provisions, putting forward holistic and targeted reform measures to bring relevant legislations and the professional regulatory regime up to date, supporting the MCHK to discharge their statutory duties in a more effective manner in fulfilling its mission of ensuring justice, maintaining professionalism and protecting the public."

Detailed amendment proposals under the Bill include: (1) reforming the composition of the MCHK to diversify the professional views and include more lay members with healthcare professional backgrounds, maintaining professional autonomy and self-discipline while reflecting different angles in society and promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration; (2) enhancing the MCHK's complaint handling mechanism by making it more independent, fairer, more transparent and efficient, increasing support to the MCHK, and requiring the MCHK to devise and promulgate target timeframes for various stages of complaint handling; (3) strengthen protection for society, including immediately suspending the right to practise of medical practitioners convicted of serious offences; and (4) other relevant amendments to dovetail with the need for medical training, continuing medical education and talent attraction.

Professor Lo stressed, "Handling complaints and conducting disciplinary inquiries are important functions of the MCHK. When the professional competence or conduct of individual medical practitioners may fail to meet the required standard, the MCHK will decide through inquiries whether to impose disciplinary sanctions in accordance with its independent quasi-judicial functions empowered by the MRO. In the drafting of the Bill, the Government made reference to the review carried out by the MCHK upon request by the Government on their complaint handling mechanism, and the Ombudsman's direct investigation operation report on the relevant work of the Secretariat of the MCHK, and met with Legislative Council (LegCo) members who were concerned with the subject, patient organisations, medical training institutions, professional bodies of the medical profession and more. I would like to express my gratitude for their invaluable advice."

The Bill will be introduced into the LegCo for first reading on July 8.

Source: AI-found images