While it was important for Hong Kong to continue to serve as the mainland’s international financial centre, it needed to “embrace and facilitate” the movement of global firms to the city too, he said.

The city was also Asia’s top issuer of green and sustainable debts last year, raising US$80 billion. “But our aspiration is much higher and bigger. We are determined to position ourselves as the centre of green tech and green finance,” he said.

Shanmugam, Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law, dedicated a significant part of his 20-minute speech addressing the dynamics between the city state and Hong Kong.

“And between Singapore and Hong Kong – our economies are closely intertwined,” he added, noting that Hong Kong was Singapore’s fifth-largest trading partner, while Singapore was Hong Kong’s fourth-largest trading partner.

The minister said the topic of the relationship between the two cities was “many people’s favourite topic” and a “topic the media loves” as it “makes for better headlines”.

“The story is Singapore versus Hong Kong – two ‘Asian Tigers’, financial hubs, competing against each other. And the narrative is that only one can benefit at the other’s expense,” Shanmugam said. “The truth, I think, is a little different, and rather less dramatic, because each has its strengths. Each has its hinterland, and both can do very well.

“But that doesn’t make for catchy headlines. My view [is that] a lot of this talk is simplistic, without deeper analysis,” he said.

“My view is that Hong Kong has been a collateral casualty of an anti-China mood in some parts of the world and their media,” Shanmugam said.

He noted that media coverage had shown police law and order actions were deemed an attack on democracy activists, while those who damaged property and attacked officers were celebrated as democracy activists.

“The hypocrisy in all of this – not many commented about the lack of democracy in Hong Kong until 1997, or that it did not affect Hong Kong’s success and vibrancy. After 1997, many had a sudden attack of democracy consciousness.”

07:30

China’s Rebel City: The Hong Kong Protests

China’s Rebel City: The Hong Kong Protests

Shanmugam and Chan both sought to suggest that amid various challenges, there remained strong prospects for economic growth in Asia.

The Singapore minister acknowledged that there were serious geopolitical risks with the world “being seen as divided into two blocs, with the Global South watching anxiously”.

The tensions required management by “responsible leadership by all sides”, but still opportunities were abound in Asia, he said, pointing to – among other things – the region’s fast-growing consumer market, rising number of upper and upper middle-income households, and the availability of capital to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

Chan noted in his speech that despite the “rather gloomy global economic outlook elsewhere”, Asia remained an economic powerhouse.

“This is so true in the midst of high geopolitical tensions, and the financial turbulence in the United States and Europe recently,” the Hong Kong financial secretary said. “Countries like those in the Gulf region are actively seeking to diversify investments in this part of the world.”

Wong echoed Shanmugam’s remarks that the media was hyping up the rivalry between Hong Kong and Singapore.

In reality, both cities were not engaged in zero-sum competition and they “embrace healthy competition which motivates both sides to excel”, Wong said.

Writing on Facebook, Chan said during his visit to Malaysia and Singapore he met representatives of family offices and tech companies who were confident about Hong Kong’s prospects in the areas of digital economy, green technology and finance.

“They believe that the potential for development is unlimited, and they are interested in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong,” he said.

The two-day conference, featuring 46 speakers, also featured a keynote speech by the Malaysian international trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.