Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau uses ADB annual meeting to promote catastrophe bonds tokenised green bonds and tax treaty negotiations

At the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in Samarkand, Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, used the Governors' Plenary and bilateral meetings to present Hong Kong's response to shifting global value chains and to promote the city as a financing, risk management and trade facilitation hub. In his plenary remarks, made under the theme of shifting global value chains, technology and inclusive growth, he said Hong Kong is diversifying markets, strengthening co-operation with global partners, attracting secondary listings and developing new industries while using technology to enhance traditional sectors. In meetings on the sidelines, Hui discussed how the Asian Development Bank and member countries could use Hong Kong's financial markets and professional services, including catastrophe bond issuance, tokenised bond issuance and procurement. He noted that two World Bank catastrophe bonds have already been listed in Hong Kong and said the government is promoting wider tokenisation in the bond market, especially for green bonds that the ADB could use for fundraising. Separate discussions with officials from Sweden, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Germany focused on possible negotiations on Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements with Hong Kong, the city's legal and financial services and mediation platform, green bond issuance, and co-operation on building an Asian gold ecosystem as Hong Kong seeks to develop into an international gold trading centre.