Forum aims to find business, investment opportunities

By Wong Joon San in Hong Kongjoonsan@chinadailyhk.迷你倉旺角comHong Kong has a vital part to play in connecting the world's second-largest economy — the Chinese mainland — to the rest of the world, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said at a forum on Monday.Leung gave the welcome address at the two-day 7th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which started on Monday.The Chief Executive said over the past year, he had worked hard to foster stronger G2G — government-to-government — links with leaders in provinces across the mainland, as well as with the central government."This high-level cross-boundary cooperation will ensure that Hong Kong continues contributing to and benefiting from the economic and financial reforms on the mainland," he said.More than 2,300 leading financial players, business leaders and government officials from around the world attended the AFF this year.The forum, themed "Asia: Powering World Growth", aims to take advantage of the networking opportunities and find Asian business and investment opportunities. It will include more than 100 prominent international speakers.The speakers will discuss the global economic recovery, opportunities in China, Asian enterprises and other topics. Some 11 workshops are scheduled, which will cover issues ranging from the mainland's economic reforms, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community, Islamic finance, natural resource investment and asset management."Asia has proven to be vital to the global economy and world financial system, and to your business bottom line," Jack So, chairman of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said in his opening address."Led by the Chinese mainland and, increasingly, Southeast Asian nations, this region has emerged in recent years as the world's economic and financial engine," he said.Leung Chun-ying, who stressed Hong Kong's role in the national economy, also dimini storagecussed the globalization of renminbi. "More important for Hong Kong, for the mainland and for international finance, the renminbi has become one of the top 10 most traded currencies internationally," he said."China's currency liberalization is not just a national or regional trend; it is a truly global trend. Hong Kong is the main conduit for the flow of renminbi capital and, perhaps more importantly, the flow of information on developing and expanding renminbi business around the world," Leung said."To help enhance cooperation between Hong Kong and other overseas markets on the development of renminbi business, we have established a number of private-sector platforms for collaborating with other places such as London, Paris, Australia and more recently with Malaysia," he said.The latest figures from January to November 2013 show that Hong Kong accounts for over 3 trillion yuan ($496 billion) worth of offshore renminbi trade settlements. The value of renminbi deposits and certificates of deposits in Hong Kong exceeded 1 trillion yuan as of the end of December.Since 2007, more than 330 renminbi bonds have been issued in Hong Kong, with a total outstanding amount of 309 billion yuan.Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Ceajer Chan Ka-keung chaired the plenary session — Asia: Powering World Growth. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup, who is also minister of finance of the Netherlands; Alexey Moiseev, deputy finance minister of Russia; and Takehiko Nakao, president of the Asian Development Bank, also shared their insights.On Tuesday, the AFF-China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable co-branded workshop will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This event is co-organized by China Daily and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for the third year.China's currency liberalization is not just a national or regional trend; it is a truly global trend."Leung Chun-yingChief Executive迷你倉