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Maintaining HK as an international financial centre

Following is the speech of the Secretary for Financial Services, Mr Rafael Hui, in the motion debate on maintaining Hong Kong's competitiveness as a leading international financial centre in the legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President:

I very.

much welcome today's debate on an issue which is crucial to the continued stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. By most international standards, Hong Kong is already a leading international financial centre. It has been a wide ranging and valuable debate and Honourable Members have put forward to us some valuable suggestions on how Hong Kong can maintain our competitive edge, in the face of keen competition. I wish I could acknowledge and respond to the views of each and every member who has spoken but obviously time does not permit this. And I, therefore, look forward to having continued discussion with Members, market practitioners and the public over this very important topic. And indeed a number of items raised this afternoon could well be very usefully and constructively discussed and further discussed at the Financial Affairs Panel.

I cannot agree more with Mr Paul Cheng that Hong Kong's future prosperity depends on a great degree on maintaining our competitiveness as a leading financial centre. Indeed, in the past decade or so, financial services have been a key growth component in our economy. The average growth rate for trade in financial services since 1980 stood at an impressive 21% per annum in value terms.

I will not quote further statistics today to illustrate our astounding achievement in becoming one of the leading financial centres in the world. Mr Paul Cheng had done so in his speech as have other members as well as Ms Loh. I will only reiterate, however, that despite these remarkable achievements, the Government has never been complacent. And I believe that this is true for the private sector as well. Indeed, there is no place for complacency. Asia, being the fastest growing region in the world and expected to continue to be so in the future, presents immense opportunity in financial services. While Hong Kong is well placed to tap this potential and the associated benefits, both established players and emerging aspiring financial centres in the region are also seeking to capture the same potential and benefits. And as Ms Loh has pointed out, it is not a zero-sum game, we are keenly conscious of the need to maintain. Hong Kong's competitiveness, in the face of increasing competition.

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