Initiated by the Better Hong Kong Foundation (the Foundation), and joined by the Central Policy Unit of the HKSAR Government (CPU) and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI), the Hong Kong Business Community Forum on the Pearl River Delta Development Plan was successfully held on 27 March 2009 at the City University of Hong Kong. More than 180 professionals from various business fields attended the Forum. The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA) and City University of Hong Kong (CityU) were the co-organizers and the media partner was the Hong Kong Economic Times.
In January 2009, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released “The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020)” (the Outline). The Hong Kong business community has been intimately involved in the development of the Pearl River Delta region for years. Noting the importance of the implementation of the Outline on the future development of Hong Kong, the Foundation in collaboration with the CPU, FHKI and CMA organized the forum where members of Hong Kong business community could share and exchange their views and experiences, to explore opportunities as well as to meet challenges that arise ahead.
The Foundation’s Trustee Mr. W F Leung; the CPU’s Head Prof. Lau Siu-kai; the FHKI’s Chairman Mr. Clement Chan; CityU’s President Prof. Way Kuo; and the CMA’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Paul Leung gave their warmest welcome to the participants as a kick-off of the forum. The Foundation’s Executive Director Ms. Karen Tang was the Forum’s host.
We were honored to have Ms. Jin Ping, Deputy Director General of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People’ Government of Guangdong Province; Mr. Cai Yunge, Deputy Director, Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province; and Mr. C Y Leung, Convener of the Executive Council giving keynote addresses at the Forum. Ms. Jin and Mr. Cai explained the background and introduced the Outline. Mr. Leung shared his views on various areas of cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong as well as the possible role and functions that Hong Kong could play under the Outline. It was followed by three panel discussions:
– Financial Session
Speaker:
Prof. K C Chan, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury of the HKSAR Government
Moderator:
Dr. Frank Song, Director of the Centre for China Financial Research of The University of Hong Kong
Discussants:
Mr. Fang Fang, CEO and Managing Director of JP Morgan Chase & Co (China); and
Mr. George Leung, Advisor, Strategy and Economics, Asia-Pacific, of HSBC.
– Logistics Session
Speaker:
Mr. Anthony Wong, Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong Logistics Association
Moderation:
Dr. Thomas Chan, Head of the China Business Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Discussants:
Mr. Chang Ka-mun, Managing Director of the Li & Fung Research Centre/Staff Officer of the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council; and
Mr. Ambrose Linn, Member of the Hong Kong Logistics Development Council.
– Industries/Manufacturing Session
Speaker:
Mr. Peter Leung, former Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs, Guangdong
Moderator:
Mr. Cliff Sun, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries
Discussants:
Mr. W F Leung, Group Managing Director of Lam Soon (Hong Kong) Ltd;
Mr. C K Yeung, Vice Chairman of Blue Box Holdings Ltd;
Ms. Iris Lam, Business Promotion Manager of Onlen Fairyland (HK) Co Ltd; and
Mr. Michael Yu, Executive Committee Member of the CMA/Director of Sunnex Products Ltd.
Participants enthusiastically exchanged their views with speakers at the Q&A session. Mr. Shiu Sin-por, Member of the CPU gave the concluding remarks. The details and implementation plan of the Outline are yet to be mapped out at this stage. By organizing the forum, we hoped that views gathered could be useful to Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments and can serve as a good reference to the business community.
Group photo after the keynote session: (L to R) Ms. Karen Tang (the Foundation’s Executive Director), Mr. Paul Leung (CMA’s Chief Executive Officer), Mr. Cai Yunge (Deputy Director, Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province), Mr. Clement Chan (FHKI’s Chairman), Prof Lau Siu-kai (CPU’s Head), Mr. C Y Leung (Executive Council’s Convenor), Ms. Jin Ping (Deputy Director General of HongKong and Macao Affairs Office of the People’ Government of Guangdong Province), Mr. W F Leung (the Foundation’s Trustee) and Prof Way Kuo (CityU’s President)
Over 180 professionals from various business fields attending the forum