14th Asian Financial Forum to run online next week
Under the theme «Reshaping the World Economic Landscape», the forum will run round the clock across different time zones, examining the current economic landscape and exploring global business opportunities with more than 160 influential policymakers, financial experts, investors, business leaders and economists, WAM reports.
According to a press statement by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Dubai, heavyweight speakers at the AFF’s keynote sessions include Paul Romer, 2018 Nobel Laureate for Economic Sciences and policy entrepreneur, Alexis Ohanian, Co-founder of Reddit and Seven Seven Six, and Luc Julia, Co-creator of Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. Distinguished guests at various sessions will share insights on a wide range of topics including the global economic outlook, socially responsible and impact investment, the asset and wealth management industry in the post-COVID era, climate change risks and opportunities for the insurance industry.
Mary Huen, Chairperson, AFF 2021 Steering Committee and CEO, Hong Kong, Standard Chartered, said: «COVID has brought unprecedented changes to the world economy, although the development of vaccines will help to address some of the uncertainties. The global economy is being reshaped even as economic and trade activities begin to get back to normal. Corporates need to aggressively embrace the new normal and turbocharge the implementation of transformation, including technology upgrades, to create new opportunities for the financial industry.»
Dr Patrick Lau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, said: «We endured a challenging year in 2020, which makes it all the more important for AFF participants to come together to examine the latest market developments and explore innovative solutions and investment opportunities from around the world through the AFF virtual platform. Under the theme ‘Reshaping the World Economic Landscape’, this year’s forum focuses on topics such as sustainable development, impact investment, fintech, 5G, philanthropy, family offices, entrepreneurship and venture capital, and will examine how businesses can turn crisis into opportunity under the new normal. The online forum will cover more than 50 sessions from 8:30am to 10pm, Hong Kong time, allowing people from different time zones to participate.»
This year’s AFF will see the inauguration of the «Dialogues for Tomorrow» series to assess the impact of COVID-19 on sectors such as banking, insurance, fintech, energy, healthcare, food and agriculture and big tech, allowing industry players to get a better understanding of the current situation and ways in which they can enhance their competitiveness. Distinguished guests taking part in the series include Melissa Guzy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Arbor Ventures; Tao Zhang, Founder and Managing Director of Dao Ventures & Dao Foods International; Ann Kung, Deputy Chief Executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited; Sebastian Paredes, CEO of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited; Maaike Steinebach, General Manager, Hong Kong & Macau, Visa Inc; Ronnie Ede, Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer of Innovent Biologic Inc; Florian Kemmerich, Managing Partner of Bamboo Capital Partners; Ming Yang, Chief Financial Officer of Daqo New Energy; Randall S Kroszner, Deputy Dean for Executive Programs of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business; and Sally Wan, CEO of AXA Hong Kong and Macau.
The Fintech Showcase, FintechHK Startup Salon, InnoVenture Salon and Global Investment Zone will return in a virtual format for the 2021 Asia Financial Forum, inviting more than 140 local and overseas international financial institutions, technology enterprises, start-ups and investment agencies to present the latest trends in fintech innovation and next-generation business ideas, helping industries from different parts of the world to explore investment opportunities. Exhibitors include Mox Bank, a start-up group from Cyberport, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, PAO Bank and Airwallex. In addition, the AFF Deal Flow Matchmaking Session will arrange one-on-one meetings between more than 670 investors, project owners and start-ups to bring together capital and investment projects from around the world on a virtual platform. More than 700 meetings will be arranged, covering investment projects including the Internet of Things, digital technology, healthtech, fintech, education, environment and energy, food and agriculture, infrastructure and real estate.