Belt and Road Forum 2024 - Digital Economy & Payment Settlement
On 5th December, our Center jointly organized the 2024 Belt and Road Forum “Digital Economy & Payment Settlement” with the Ng Teng Fong· Sino Group Belt and Road Research Institute of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College and Maritime Silk Road Society. Mr Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Zhou Qiang, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department and Head of the Commercial Office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mrs Regina Ip, Convenor of Hong Kong Executive Council and Co-Chair of the Maritime Silk Road Society, Mr LAM Kwong Siu, Chairman of Board of Governors of Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Mr Liu An Ning, Second Secretary of the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative, along with near 300 distinguished guests, including prominent business leaders from Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas, Consul-Generals of Consulates-General in Hong Kong, government officials, entrepreneurs, and academics attended the Forum. Mr Joseph Chan, Chairman of our Center, Mr Zhao Jie, Mr Anthony Lai and Mr Terry Su as representatives of the Center attended the Forum.
The Hon John KC LEE, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delivered an opening address (Video), in which he expressed his confidence that Hong Kong’s robust financial Infrastructure will support the financial services sectors to fully adapt to this new wave of digital economy, amidst the large array of opportunities offered by the digital “silk road”. In so doing, Hong Kong will consolidate its position as an international financial centre, and bring new development opportunities to other Belt and Road economies.
The highlight of the Forum was the panel discussion centering on the digital economy & payment settlement development of the Belt and Road, which was divided into two sessions, respectively “Cross-Border Payments Fuelling the Accelerated Growth of Global E-Commerce” and “the Development and Implementation of Web 3.0 in Hong Kong”. The first session was moderated by Ms Julia Charlton, Managing Partner of Charltons, panelists included Dr Shen Jianguang, Vice President and Chief Economist of JD.com, Mr Ronan Zhong, Vice President of LianLian Global, Mr Esmond Lee, Deputy Branch Manager of Euroclear Bank Hong Kong Branch and Mr Herbert Siu, CFO of Payment Cards Group Limited together explored the critical role that cross-border payments play in driving the global e-commerce.
In the second session moderated by Mr Joseph Chan, the Chairman of our Center, Mr Ivan Chan, Co-Founder & COO of Web3.0 Technology Limited, Mr Furuzonfar Zehni, Partner and Portfolio Manager of Fresco Capital, Mr Marco Lim, Web3 Partner of Solowin Holdings and Professor James Lei, Secretary General of the Institute of Web3.0 Hong Kong joined the session and delved into the development and implementation of Web 3.0 in Hong Kong, the challenges facing, and the strategies employed to navigate through them.
We deeply appreciate our joint organizers, the Ng Teng Fong· Sino Group Belt and Road Research Institute of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College and Maritime Silk Road Society, for their strong commitment and tacit cooperation in working together to promote the Belt and Road Initiative and Hong Kong’s commitment in integrating into the Overall Development of mainland China.
