HKSARG and HKTDC announce 2nd Belt and Road Summit

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SME Times News Bureau | 21 Aug, 2017
The second Belt and Road Summit, jointly organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will be held on 11 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, informed a press release on Monday.

The inaugural summit last May was attended by Zhang Dejiang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, who delivered a keynote speech. The summit was attended by some 2,400 government officials and business leaders from 48 countries and regions.

Building on the momentum of the last Summit, this year's event will adopt the theme "From Vision to Action". It will once again invite government officials, entrepreneurs and industry experts from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and countries along the Belt and Road to share their viewpoints and timely insight about the Belt and Road Initiative as well as related investment and business opportunities.

The HKTDC will bring its extensive research on the Initiative and insight from various honorary advisors to the Summit to provide participants with in-depth, accurate analyses on a variety of topics. These will range from the policies of different countries and regional developments to opportunities for individual industries.

The first panel is titled "Investing in Belt and Road: Dialogue with Policymakers". It will be chaired by Laura Cha, Chairman of Hong Kong's Financial Services Development Council, who will speak with Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR Government, Andrzej Adamczyk, Poland's Minister of Infrastructure and Construction, and related ministers from Belt and Road countries and regions about policies related to the Initiative.

Another panel will be hosted by Bernard Chan, President of the Asia Financial Holdings Limited and convenor of Hong Kong's Executive Council. He will join leaders from the infrastructure sector in Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and ASEAN to examine "Partnerships with ASEAN: Growth through Infrastructure". The speakers will share their experience with investing in infrastructure projects in ASEAN countries and how demand for such projects is booming. They will also discuss how Hong Kong businesses can leverage their existing advantages to capture new opportunities.

In addition to the main panels, there will be three thematic breakout forums in the afternoon. The first, co-organised by the HKTDC and the HKMA Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office, will invite representatives of international financial institutions to discuss how to capture infrastructure investment and financing opportunities through Hong Kong. Another forum, co-organised with the Department of Justice, the Government of the HKSAR, will invite legal experts to explore how enterprises can use Hong Kong as a platform for infrastructure dispute resolution.

The third forum will invite young business leaders from Hong Kong and ASEAN countries to share their views on Belt and Road opportunities for entrepreneurs. Speakers will include Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, CEO of TARAD.com; Dato' Seri Ivan Teh, CEO & Managing Director of Fusionex, Malaysia; and Hong Kong's Glendy Choi, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong's D&G Technology Holding Co, Ltd, and Nicholas Ho, Deputy Managing Director of ‎hpa. Participants can freely join the forums based on their interests and business needs.

In addition, project owners or operators, investors and service providers can participate in investment and business matching sessions to explore cooperation and realise the Summit's theme, "From Vision to Action". Summit participants will also find banks and financial institutions, infrastructure related service providers and various professional services in the event's the exhibition area, offering further support for their thriving Belt and Road businesses.

As one of the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, this year's Belt and Road Summit is supported by a wide range of relevant sectors, embodying the key theme of the celebration events "Together‧Progress‧Opportunity". Some 40 global business leaders are serving as honorary advisors for the event. The China International Capital Corporation Limited is its Strategic Partner while the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited is the Diamond Sponsor.