Paul Chan highlights Hong Kong’s strengths before concluding his visit to the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos
HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 23 January 2026 - Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), wrapped up his attendance at the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland yesterday (January 22).
During the WEF Annual Meeting 2026, themed "A Spirit of Dialogue", Mr Chan met with political, business and financial leaders to brief them on the latest situation in Hong Kong as well as the city's new opportunities for partnership and investment.
A day earlier (January 21), Mr Chan spoke at the 2026 Davos-Caixin CEO Luncheon themed "Beyond Old Models: Designing Growth That Works". He outlined the steady progress Hong Kong has made over the past couple of years, and shared the city's development vision and strategic positioning in its three key growth engines — finance, trade, and innovation and technology.
The Financial Secretary highlighted that breakthroughs in technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain are driving profound industrial transformation and economic growth. Under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong is actively exploring and piloting initiatives in financial and technological innovation. With strong collaboration among neighbouring cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area that boast robust innovation and technology industrial chains, Hong Kong holds tremendous development potential and is a worthwhile investment destination.
Mr Chan also spoke at a dinner themed "China in Focus", sharing his views on China's development, international relations, as well as capital market developments in both the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong.
During a business exchange session of the WEF Annual Meeting, Mr Chan interacted with nearly 100 leaders from various sectors and regions. The discussion covered topics such as the outlook for the United States and global economies, strategies to enhance economic resilience, and ways to promote growth.
The Financial Secretary also held bilateral meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, Mr Sun Chanthol, and the Minister of State for Financial Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Mr Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini respectively. They exchanged views on the global economic and trade landscape and matters of mutual interest, and explored ways to strengthen bilateral economic and trade co-operation.
On the final full day of his visit to Switzerland (January 22), Mr Chan spoke at a WEF Annual Meeting thematic session titled "How to Finance Decarbonization?". The event examined how public-private collaboration can continue to support the goal of achieving carbon neutrality, amid global economic slowdown, high debt levels in advanced economies and geopolitical developments.
Mr Chan shared Hong Kong's strategies in striving to achieve the city's target for carbon neutrality by 2050. These strategies include leveraging government policy to steer behavioural changes among enterprises and consumers, such as providing tax concessions for electric vehicles and incentives for green buildings. He also mentioned financial support for trials of innovative technologies, such as sustainable hydrogen-powered transport, to encourage innovation.
Hong Kong actively facilitates private capital participation in the decarbonisation process through a rich green finance ecosystem, such as green bonds and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds. The HKSAR Government also encourages financial innovation, including the issuance of tokenised green bonds to allow wider investor participation in green projects, and the securitisation of loans for infrastructure projects to release capital for reinvestment into new projects.
Mr Chan also met with leaders from political, business and international organisations, including the President and Chief Executive Officer of the WEF, Mr Børge Brende, and the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Mr Dan Katz. Moreover, Mr Chan held separate meetings with the Global Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr Mohamed Kande; the Chief Executive Officer of AXA Group, Mr Thomas Buberl; and the Vice President of Global Public Policy of Amazon Web Services, Mr Michael Punke, to exchange views on the current global economic and market situation, as well as technological development.
Mr Chan was among some 3,000 leaders from various sectors around the world who attended the WEF Annual Meeting 2026.
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