FS attends APEC meeting in Peru

Financial Secretary Paul Chan began his visit in Lima, Peru, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers' Meeting and related activities.

Yesterday morning, he attended the Finance Ministers' Retreat, a meeting focused on discussing the fiscal policies of economies and several specific topics, including tax administration, promoting quality infrastructure development, and the digital transformation of financial services.

Mr Chan introduced the latest developments in Hong Kong regarding these topics and specifically shared Hong Kong's experience in issuing retail bonds to support infrastructure projects that benefit the economy and people's lives.

He highlighted that this arrangement allows residents to participate in advancing infrastructure projects, and providing them with a safe, reliable, and stable investment option, while also raising funds for such projects. This approach, Mr Chan pointed out, achieves the dual goals of supporting inclusive finance and infrastructure development.

He also shared Hong Kong's progress in promoting the digitalisation of financial services, including ongoing optimisation of the fintech ecosystem, launching regulatory sandboxes to test and promote innovative projects across various financial sectors, and facilitating data sharing between small and medium-sized enterprises and banks to facilitate business lending.

In the afternoon, while participating in the High Level Event on Sustainable Finance under Finance Ministers' Meeting, Mr Chan engaged in in-depth discussions with finance ministers on the strategies for the development of sustainable finance and transition finance, governance frameworks and international co-operation.

The Financial Secretary outlined the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's emission reduction targets and action strategies set forth in Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050.

Additionally, he shared Hong Kong's latest developments as a leading green finance centre in Asia, including the issuance of green and sustainable bonds, participation in the formulation of relevant international standards and climate disclosure guidelines, talent training, and promoting transition finance to build a thriving green and sustainable finance ecosystem.

Moreover, he noted that a steering group comprising all financial regulators has been established to drive related efforts.

Whatâs more, Mr Chan met Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min as well as several representatives from participating economies, including Peru's Minister of Economy & Finance JosÃ© Arista Arbildo, Singapore's Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat and Thai Deputy Minister of Finance Paopoom Rojanasakul to discuss deepening bilateral co-operation and exchange views on common concerns.

During the bilateral meetings, Mr Chan introduced Hong Kong's latest economic situation and various policy measures set out in the Policy Address that the Chief Executive delivered last week.

In the evening, he attended a welcome reception for the Finance Ministers' Meeting.