Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has shrugged off concerns over three top bankers pulling out of the city’s first mega financial summit since the Covid-19 pandemic began, as he struck a cautiously optimistic tone on a return to normality.
Speaking to the press before his weekly Executive Council meeting, the chief executive noted that two bankers had pulled out of the three-day event – which began last week - after coming down with Covid-19, while a third had changed his schedule and would not visit Asia.
“It’s just a small number,” Lee stressed. “What we have seen now is that more than 200 people will attend and that is within our expectation.”
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Lee went on to list a raft of events the city would host in the next two weeks, including the Hong Kong Sevens weekend rugby tournament, as well as an Asian global health summit to be held on November 10 and 11.
“Hong Kong is full of vigour and energy,” he said, adding the government was committed to hosting more activities while reconnecting the city with the outside world as much as possible amid the pandemic.
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The Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit is seen as a vote of confidence in Hong Kong’s reopening, with the city only recently emerging from Covid’s shadow after nearly three years of being closed off from the world amid strict travel curbs.
Tough hotel quarantine measures, lasting as long as 21 days at one point, effectively cut off many international business exchanges, until the policy was scrapped in September and replaced by a three-day medical surveillance under which travellers are allowed limited citywide movement.
The two leading bankers absent due to Covid are Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Blackstone president John Gray, while Barclays group CEO C. S. Venkatakrishnan pulled out following a change of itinerary.
The event, organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has encountered hurdles, with American politicians calling on bankers to reconsider their attendance amid political tensions, while a nearing storm threatens to put a dampener on activities.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, one of the key speakers at the summit, will return to the city from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday afternoon after testing negative for Covid-19 following an earlier infection, but it remains unclear if he will physically be present at the event.
Lee stressed on Tuesday that his finance chief would enjoy no exemptions and undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival. Chan will have to isolate himself if he tests positive.
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The chief executive gave his assurance that economic activities had resumed with the pandemic situation under control locally, while the city’s unemployment rate had remained low, despite a 4.5 per cent shrinkage in the economy in the third quarter compared with a year ago, as announced on Monday.
Among the latest figures, total exports dropped 15.5 per cent in the third quarter from a year ago, deteriorating from the 8.4 per cent decrease in the previous quarter.
“Hong Kong is an outward-facing economy so the global economy definitely has an impact,” Lee said, addressing the dip.
He added that exports fell because foreign currencies had weakened against the Hong Kong dollar, while some countries had also imposed stringent monetary policies to deal with inflation at home.
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Lee pointed out he had already pledged HK$600 million (US$76.4 million) in his recent policy address to back the local tourism industry in hosting domestic tours centered on heritage or green initiatives.
Lee also said since hotel quarantine was axed, the number of inbound foreign travellers had gone up by 2.3 times in a month, which was a good sign.
“We hope that as we organise more activities, our economy will go back up internally,” he said.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Regional rivals Hong Kong and Singapore battle to lure fintech leaders to competing mega events
- Hong Kong ‘back in business’, finance chief Paul Chan tells fintech event as government proposes raft of measures to promote virtual-assets industry
- Fintech: JPMorgan, Endowus say Hong Kong has talent, capital and location edge to be global hub
- Interest in private jet flights to Hong Kong takes off after axing of hotel quarantine, return of mega events
- Hong Kong ‘never left’, the city’s status as global finance hub never faltered during pandemic, JPMorgan’s wealth chief says
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