(Hong Kong, 22 January 2024) HKPC held its flagship event of the year, “ForeSight 2024”, at the HKPC Building today. The event was met with enthusiasm and saw a full house of nearly 400 guests, including Government officials, business leaders and media personnel. Under the theme of “ESG One – Driving ESG for Big & Small Businesses”, distinguished speakers led the “ForeSight Leaders Panel” to discuss the importance of sustainability and analyse the strategic deployment of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), aiming to inspire forward-thinking SME owners to realise the value of sustainability in 2024. The event also included the “ESG One Launching Ceremony”, which took place in the presence of leaders from local chambers, representatives of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and industry partners. The brand-new “ESG One” platform of HKPC will provide comprehensive support to the industry in realising digital transformation and fulfilling its ESG strategy to foster a sustainable and low-carbon future for Hong Kong.

With the aim to reduce Hong Kong’s carbon emissions by half in 2035 and meet the HKSAR Government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050, HKPC has set a target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. As a brand-new community-based platform, “ESG One” will no doubt foster awareness and capability of ESG to create a well-balanced ESG ecosystem for enterprises regardless of size, so as to bring together stakeholders with aligned goals and interests, exchange views and share information and resources, as well as collaborate on the development of ESG strategies. “ESG One” demonstrates HKPC’s commitment to an impactful approach to sustainable development.

“ForeSight 2024” is supported by the HKSAR Government. Mr Joseph CHAN Ho-lim, JP, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, HKSAR, gave the keynote address at the opening ceremony. He said, “The Hong Kong government, in collaboration with financial regulators and the industry, is making concerted efforts through a multi-pronged approach to develop Hong Kong as a regional green and sustainable finance hub, as well as a green finance centre for the Greater Bay Area. This includes the development of market infrastructure as well as standards. In 2022, the total volume of green and sustainable bonds arranged to be issued in Hong Kong topped the Asian market, accounting for about one-third of the market share in Asia. The market is becoming increasingly diversified in terms of participants, products, and related review services. In our efforts to address climate change, we attach great importance to the participation of SMEs. The Government will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach and work together with financial regulators and the industry to enable SMEs to share the benefits of developing ESG and green finance.”

Mr Mohamed D. BUTT, MH, Executive Director of HKPC, said, “In today’s business environment, ESG has become an integral part of any corporate strategy and an important indicator of a company’s prospects and values. Recognising the unequivocal significance of ESG in today’s business landscape, HKPC has been offering ESG services to local enterprises since 10 years ago. In the journey of pursuing ESG, SMEs often encounter challenges, such as insufficient resources. As a solid backbone for SMEs, HKPC has launched ‘ESG One’, dedicated to providing quality services to create value for SMEs and work together on ESG initiatives. Meanwhile, HKPC is also promoting new industrialisation across both traditional and emerging industries to help them realise the industrial-added value and long-term economic development while also protecting the ecological environment, achieving a win-win situation. As a leading research institution, HKPC is committed to fostering Hong Kong into a greener and liveable smart city through services and projects that drive business development with green technologies.”

Renowned speakers, including Ar Donald CHOI Wun-hing, JP, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chinachem Group; Mr Joseph LAW Ka-chun, Managing Director, CLP Power Hong Kong; Ir Thomas HO On-sing, JP, Chairman, Construction Industry Council; and Ms Teresa YANG Ming-yen, JP, Vice Chairman, Esquel Group, shared their vision for ESG and a sustainable future at the “ForeSight Leaders Panel – Sustainability Matters: Navigating the ESG journey in 2024”. From the perspectives of real estate, Hong Kong’s electricity source, construction and textiles industries, speakers dove into the challenges and opportunities enterprises may face in developing sustainability, as well as the long-term strategic values and advantages generated from investing in ESG. Furthermore, employee equality was also recognised as an essential aspect of corporate responsibility. The speakers shared strategies for ensuring inclusive and supportive work environment that nurture employees’ full potential. The forum delved into the concept of leveraging the experience of large corporations to assist SMEs at the onset of their ESG initiatives. It aimed to provide SMEs with valuable advice in establishing the ESG roadmap, encouraging them to deploy and implement ESG.

After the discussion, leaders of local chambers, representatives of SMEs trade associations and industry partners joined the “ESG One” Launching Ceremony to witness the official launch. Companies joining “ESG One” can conduct free online ESG assessments, obtain ESG scorecards, as well as participate in knowledge-sharing seminars, service/ product showcases and networking events, etc to help them realise their ESG strategies and embark on their roadmap to sustainability. Thanks to the staunch support of chambers of commerce and organisation partners, more than 150 have joined as supporting organisations and nearly 200 enterprises have already joined “ESG One” as green members. HKPC will strive to recruit more enterprises to strengthen synergies, and foster a well-balanced ESG ecosystem.

HKPC will continue to work hand-in-hand with industry to promote ESG for the betterment of Hong Kong and its citizens. A community-wide effort is necessary to foster a green and smart city, while HKPC is committed to serving the industry and promoting new industrialisation while adhering to green and sustainable development and bringing benefits to the overall economic development of Hong Kong.

“ForeSight” is the signature event of HKPC since 2020, bringing together Government and business leaders, industry heavyweights and technology experts to help Hong Kong enterprises capture the essence of impending economic development and technology trends in the year ahead. For more information about “ForeSight 2024”, please visit: https://foresight2024.hkpc.org/en/.

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