Asia-Pacific Business Forum opens

The Asia-Pacific Business Forum 2023 opened today, with delegates meeting to discuss how businesses are decarbonising their operations and scaling up sustainability initiatives around Asia and the Pacific.

Speaking at the forum’s opening session, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said decarbonisation and green transition require a huge amount of investment. He added that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is committed to working with the business sector to realise green transformation in the city and contribute to progress on decarbonisation regionally.

“Estimates have indicated that Asia alone will need US$66 trillion in the coming three decades,” he said. “It is clear that governments cannot fund them on their own. The private sector’s resources must be effectively mobilised.”

The two-day forum, themed “An Asia Pacific Green Deal for Business: Driving the Green Transformation”, is jointly organised by the United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network, with support from the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Environment & Ecology Bureau.

It brings together government officials, entrepreneurs, investors, private sector enterprises and academics from around the region.

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan will tomorrow give a keynote address on Hong Kong’s quest for carbon neutrality before 2050.