Lai See | HKTDC's unnecessary forum does nothing for Hong Kong's image
Why is it that when it comes to the Asian Financial Forum, the Trade Development Council exhibits symptoms that suggest it is suffering from an institutional inferiority complex? The forum is now in its 7th year, yet the TDC persists in holding a completely unnecessary press conference. But anyone would think they were organising an international beauty contest.
The subhead on its press statement reads: "More than 100 high-profile speakers to take part in two-day forum," and then gives a list of 16 "high-profile" speakers. This is accompanied by another page of 40 pictures of speakers that have signed up. Then we turn to the AFF booklet, which is mostly pictures of past and present speakers. Raymond Yip, an assistant executive director at the TDC, then read out another 15 or so names just in case the message hadn't sunk in.
Given that there are already a number of highly successful forums of this nature every year in Hong Kong, organised by the private sector, we asked Yip what the purpose of AFF was beyond attracting big names to Hong Kong, and what value AFF added that the others didn't provide.
"The whole purpose of this event is to reinforce Hong Kong's role as Asia's premier financial hub," he replied. He went on to say that in addition to the "star-studded" speaker list, there was a commercial element in that there was a deal flow session where supposedly deals are done. This, he believed, set the AFF forum apart from other private sector conferences. This we have to say is less than convincing. You don't need a conference specifically to reinforce Hong Kong as a hub. Only a government organisation could come up with something like that.
The fact that there are already a considerable number of finance-related conferences here every year adds to Hong Kong's status as a financial hub. Indeed the AFF is well-known to be one of the dullest conferences in town, and to suggest that it is the Davos of Asia, as someone did yesterday, is laughable. One can't help feeling that the TDC has jumped on to the financial forum bandwagon because it sees it as another way of justifying its existence.
