In her Policy Address 2021, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR suggested, among others, the following initiatives:

• ...Green economy transformation has become a world trend… Hong Kong draws in world-leading financial and professional institutions, green assessment and certification organisations, as well as international investors. With these capabilities and advantages, we are well placed to develop our city into the regional green finance hub. By serving as a premier financing platform for green enterprises and projects, we have a significant role to play in addressing climate change (Section 102).

• Promoting cross‑border financial technologies (Fintech) and actively exploring with the Mainland the formation of a one‑stop sandbox network to facilitate financial institutions and information and technology companies from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to test cross‑border Fintech applications (Section 42(v)).

• Another major development direction is high value-added maritime business services, including ship registration, ship finance and management, marine insurance, and maritime legal and arbitration services. Tax concessions will be introduced to attract members of the maritime industry to establish a business presence in Hong Kong (Section 44).

• The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau will collaborate with the EDB and the LWB to explore the development of professional qualification standards under the Qualifications Framework for the Fintech sector, so as to provide a clearer and recognised professional development pathway for employers and practitioners in the industry. Meanwhile, more courses related to finance will be included in the list of reimbursable courses under the Continuing Education Fund to attract more talents to join the industry (Section 152).

• ...we will further explore ways to better encourage the public to convert their one-off assets under the MPF into an annuity which they can receive on a regular basis after retirement, so as to provide a steady income for the elderly (Section 123).

The HKFI is in general supportive of the above suggestions / initiatives, which will, in the long run, enhance Hong Kong’s status as the international financial and maritime hub.

On the suggestion of converting MFP into an annuity, the insurance industry stands ready to contribute our expertise and experience in pension annuity and work closely with the Government and our regulators in addressing the retirement gap.