Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan goes on charm offensive in Paris with Greater Bay Area delegation
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan invites VivaTech, Europe’s biggest tech exhibition, and a leading concert hall to Hong Kong
- Trip is Chan’s first joint delegation with Macau and Guangdong officials to promote business opportunities in Greater Bay Area, with next stop the US
Hong Kong’s finance chief has gone on a charm offensive in Paris to deepen bilateral business collaborations and cultural exchanges as he invited Europe’s biggest tech show and a leading concert hall to the Asian city.
The minister will head to the United States next week on a trip expected to span four days and include stops in San Francisco and Berkeley in California.
During the tech event, Chan called on participating Hong Kong companies to take advantage of the opportunity to actively expand their business, carry out further exchanges and cooperation, and jointly tell the story of Hong Kong’s advances in innovation and technology to the rest of the world.
He also met the senior management of VivaTech, inviting them to hold exhibitions and activities in Hong Kong.
At a separate occasion, Chan also invited the Theatre National de Chaillot, one of the largest concert halls in Paris, to take part in the French May Arts Festival in Hong Kong next year.
“This will bring more diverse and exciting international connotations to Hong Kong’s major events, as well as deepen cross-regional cultural exchanges and greater mutual understanding while giving bilateral relations and economic and trade exchanges a more solid foundation,” he said on his Facebook page.
On Thursday, the minister attended a trade cooperation conference involving more than 400 business leaders from France and other European countries. He welcomed French companies to set up research and development centres, as well as regional headquarters, in Hong Kong.
“He also opined that the internationalised, safe and dynamic living environment of Hong Kong is highly attractive to French and European talent,” the government said.
During the US leg of the trip, Chan will take part in two major conferences: the Bay to Bay Dialogue between the California Bay Area and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area; and the US-China High-Level Event on Subnational Climate Action.
He will also update local business communities and major players in the innovation and technology sector on the latest business opportunities in the city at a lunch co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco and the Bay Area Council, a local business association.
The trip will be the finance chief’s second visit to San Francisco in six months, after he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit there in November last year.
The Hong Kong delegation includes senior officials such as Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung and Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Joseph Chan Ho-lim.
Chan will return on June 1. While he is away, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun is serving as acting financial secretary.
In April this year, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu travelled to New York to promote Hong Kong among American business and financial leaders, including Michael Bloomberg, founder of financial media company Bloomberg and a former New York City mayor.
