FS Meets Irish Officials

Financial Secretary Paul Chan met Irish officials and representatives of the banking and business sectors in Dublin yesterday.

He attended a roundtable discussion with Minister of State at the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform Michael D'arcy and a group of key figures in Irish financial services.

They discussed the latest developments in green finance.

Mr Chan said a number of measures have been launched in the Hong Kong Budget this year to promote the development of green finance, including the Government Green Bond Programme with a borrowing ceiling of $100 billion to fund green public works projects, and a Green Bond Grant Scheme to subsidise qualified green bond issuers in using the Green Finance Certification Scheme.

He said Hong Kong and Ireland can collaborate in green finance given the latter's well-developed financial services.

Mr Chan then met Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure & Reform Paschal Donohoe to discuss global and European economic prospects.

They said they look forward to further collaboration in financial services, trade and other sectors.

Mr Chan later spoke with the National Treasury Management Agency, the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland and the Fintech & Payments Association of Ireland.

He said Hong Kong strives to provide an enabling environment for developing innovation and technology and fintech.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will launch a Faster Payment System to allow banks and Stored Value Facility service providers to provide real-time, round-the-clock, cross-institution payment and fund transfer services to their customers, he added.

Mr Chan also paid a courtesy call on Chinese Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong.