FS meets Spanish business leaders

September 25, 2024

Constructive exchanges:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan (right) speaks during a dialogue session with IE University of Spain Business School professor Pedro Nueno.

Stronger ties:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan (right) meets Spainish Secretary of State for Trade Amparo López Senovilla.

Future focus:

Financial Secretary Paul Chan (first left) learns about Telefónica’s development strategies.

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Voiceover:
Continuing his visit to Madrid, Spain, Financial Secretary Paul Chan spoke to about 150 leaders from the business, financial and innovation and technology sectors at a business lunch. He said Hong Kong has restored its global connections following the pandemic and is solidifying its role as a super connector.
 
Financial Secretary Paul Chan:
We are focusing on four areas: artificial intelligence, biotech, fintech, and new energy and new materials. We are bringing in strategic companies from overseas and the Mainland to help us jump-start this development.

Hong Kong offers boundless opportunities for Spanish companies and Spanish people, as a gateway to the Chinese Mainland and the rest of Asia, and as a hub for financial services, and technology and innovation.

Voiceover:
Mr Chan then met Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade to discuss enabling further economic and trade co-operation between the two economies.
 
Mr Chan also led a delegation on a visit to a startup accelerator, which provides financial support and training and helps startups build their networks.
 
The delegation then visited a telecommunications company to learn about its development strategies in respect of 5G networks, the Internet of Things, Web3.0 and other advanced technologies.

Continuing his visit to Madrid, Spain, Financial Secretary Paul Chan yesterday spoke at a business lunch, met Spanish officials and visited local enterprises.

Delivering a keynote speech at a lunch with about 150 leaders from Spain’s business, financial, and innovation and technology sectors, Mr Chan stressed that Hong Kong has restored its global connections following the COVID-19 pandemic, and is eager to deepen co-operation with Spain to deliver mutual benefits.

With the advantages brought by “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong is solidifying its role as a super-connector, and welcomes Spanish enterprises to use the city as a springboard to tap into the vast markets of the Greater Bay Area, the Mainland, and Asia more broadly, he said.

He added that through its mutual access schemes with the Mainland’s capital markets, Hong Kong provides a channel through which Spanish companies can easily attract funds.

Furthermore, as Hong Kong’s green standards are compatible with those of the European Union, green projects in Europe can leverage Hong Kong as a fund-raising platform. Mr Chan elaborated that Hong Kong can also collaborate with Spain’s tech ecosystem across key sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, and new energy and new materials.

In the afternoon, the finance chief met Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Amparo López Senovilla and briefed her on economic developments in Hong Kong. The two officials also held in-depth exchanges on the promotion of economic and trade co-operation and mutual investment.

Additionally, Mr Chan led a delegation of Hong Kong tech startups on a visit to IMPACT, a Spanish startup accelerator, for an exchange of views on entrepreneurial strategies in the innovation and technology sector. He and the delegation also visited the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica to learn about its development strategies in 5G telecommunications, the Internet of Things and Web3.0.

The Financial Secretary was due to continue his stay in Madrid this morning before heading to London in the afternoon.