Chen Haolian led a delegation to attend the Dubai FinTech Summit to promote the development of green financial technology between the two regions.

Source: Chen Haolian

As the Chief Executive leads a delegation to the Middle East, the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chan Ho Lam, leads a delegation of over thirty people from financial technology and investment companies, together with the Invest Hong Kong and Cyberport, to attend the local annual financial technology event – the Dubai FinTech Summit.

This visit is a continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Deputy Commissioner Chan on behalf of the FSTB and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism of Dubai in 2023, marking a new stage of cooperation between Hong Kong and Dubai in the development of the fintech ecosystem. The two sides agreed to exchange representatives to participate in the Hong Kong Fintech Week and the Dubai Fintech Summit to leverage the unique advantages of the two markets to promote more dynamic fintech development. Since the signing of the MoU, exchanges between the two places in the field of fintech have become more frequent, and have yielded tangible results, leading to a number of Hong Kong enterprises to launch promising cooperation projects with Dubai, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between one of the licensed asset management companies in the delegation and a digital bank in the United Arab Emirates to promote physical asset tokenized fund products in the Middle East market.

During the fireside chat session at the summit, Deputy Director Chan had an in-depth discussion with Asadej Kongseri, President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, on "How Green Fintech Can Drive a Sustainable Future". He pointed out that Hong Kong has been actively embracing innovation and technology and sees fintech as an important catalyst for promoting green and sustainable finance. In recent years, the Government has launched the Green and Sustainable Fintech Proof-of-Concept Grant Scheme, and will launch the Hong Kong Green Fintech Map in the first half of this year. He added that Hong Kong's capital market offers a wide range of green and sustainable investment products. To encourage more green financing activities in Hong Kong and to attract more financial and professional service providers (including external assessors) to set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong, the Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme has been extended to 2027. As at the end of April this year, we have approved funding for over 560 green and sustainable debt instruments issued in Hong Kong, with a total debt issuance of over HK$1.2 trillion.

During the summit, Deputy Director Chen also accepted interviews from local Middle Eastern media and global fintech media, elaborating on the latest developments in Hong Kong's fintech sector and the vast cooperation space between Hong Kong as Asia's leading international financial center and the Middle East. He stated that this summit not only provided Hong Kong with the opportunity to share its progress in terms of policy, regulation, and market promotion, but also allowed Hong Kong to learn from the vibrant fintech innovations in the Middle East. He believes that through closer cross-border dialogue and cooperation, it will help discover more solutions and promote a more sustainable future for the global financial market.

During the summit, Deputy Director Chen also visited several booths of local fintech companies to gain in-depth knowledge about Dubai's latest developments in various aspects of fintech. Many local fintech companies expressed interest in seeking business opportunities in Hong Kong, including cross-border payments, artificial intelligence, and compliance technology. He also met with the CEO of a Middle Eastern bank and the Chief Compliance Officer of a Middle Eastern financial holding company to discuss plans they are considering for expanding their business in Hong Kong.

Deputy Director Chen also met with Arif Amiri, CEO of the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, and Hadi Badri, CEO of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, to exchange views on the latest situation of financial development in both regions and discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation in the future. This includes how to directly connect the financial technology enterprise communities of both regions through technology platforms, based on the existing support for each other's enterprises to seek business opportunities in their respective markets, as well as discussing the arrangements and expected outcomes for the Dubai delegation to attend this November's Hong Kong FinTech Week.