The world’s largest event focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship – The 13th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions (“Summer Davos”) was held in Dalian from July 1st to 3rd. Themed at “Leadership 4.0: Succeeding in a New Era of Globalization”, more than 1,800 representatives from global political, business, academic, cultural, and international organizations discussed companies in the new era. The meeting focused on how to shape the future after the fourth industrial revolution to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth.

As a global strategic partner of the World Economic Forum, AMTD Group was once again invited to participate, and together with the guests, discussed how the further integration of finance and technology can help Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area coordinate development.

 Dr. Frederic Lau, Vice Chairman of AMTD Group and Board Member and Alternate Chief Executive of Virtual Bank of AMTD and Xiaomi at the 2019 Summer Davos World Economic Forum

At the Forum,Dr. Frederic Lau, Vice Chairman of AMTD Group and Board Member and Alternate Chief Executive of Virtual Bank of AMTD and Xiaomi, and Zhu Ning, Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance professor and National Institute of Financial Research Associate Dean, together explored how the strategy of Greater Bay Area would further inject momentum into China’s most economically active regions to achieve a transition to a knowledge-based economy.

Dr. Frederic Lau (1st left), Vice Chairman of AMTD Group and Board Member and Alternate Chief Executive of Virtual Bank of AMTD and Xiaomi, and Zhu Ning (1st right), Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance professor and National Institute of Financial Research Associate Dean

Dr. Lau said, “In terms of scale, the Greater Bay Area is not only the largest Bay Area in the world, but also the most populous Bay Area. The four central cities, Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, serve as the core engines of the development of the region, continuing to enhance comparative advantage to become better and stronger, forming radiation effect on the development of the surrounding areas.”

From the perspective of Hong Kong’s development, Dr. Lau further pointed out that Hong Kong has always used its special geographical advantages and highly specialized and internationalized investment environment as the linkage between the mainland and the global market. Hong Kong can take advantage of the capital market to provide comprehensive financing options for companies in the Greater Bay Area and help them reduce financing costs to support sustainable growth. “Shenzhen has a very good high-tech manufacturing industry. We hope that in the process of building the Greater Bay Area, we can make some contributions to the financing services for high-tech industries and high-end manufacturing in the region,” said Dr. Lau.

Representatives of the AMTD management team attending the annual meeting also included: Mr. Liu Wei, senior assistant to the Chairman; Ms. Li Lei, director of research department; and Mr. Zhang Minglin, Head of Global Advisory and Executions. During the annual meeting, the delegation also met with government officials from Tianjin and Dalian, as well as strategic partners of the “AMTD Spider Net.”

Delegation of AMTD Group at the 2019 Summer Davos: Dr. Frederic Lau (2nd left), Vice Chairman of AMTD Group; Mr. Liu Wei Wayne(1st left), senior assistant to the Chairman; Ms. Li Lei (2nd right), director of research department; and Mr. Zhang Minglin (1st right), Head of Global Advisory and Executions