Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, attended the 2023 Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACCE) Awards Gala on April 15 and presented the Best Asia Pacific Business Award.
Speaking at the opening of the Awards Gala, Ms Mo remarked that 2023 is a special year for Canada and Hong Kong as both places are making remarkable recovery from the COVID challenges.
“Hong Kong has a role in the international environment changes which present new opportunities in the ASEAN and the Gulf region,” Ms Mo said. “Under the ‘one country, two systems’, Hong Kong is the only place in the world where the global advantages from the West and the East come together in a single city. Hong Kong will continue to play its role to facilitate global business collaboration.”
Ms Mo said that Hong Kong as an international financial centre is enhancing its role as a world-class fund-raising platform. Its capitalisation reached US$4.6 trillion at the end of last year. “With the launch of different ‘Connect Schemes’ between mainland China and Hong Kong which bring together the capital markets and investors of the mainland China and the world, Hong Kong has much to offer for the financial co-operation between Canada, Indo-Pacific and well beyond,” she said.
“Another close Canada-Hong Kong connection is our common goal to develop green economy,” Ms Mo continued. Hong Kong is Asia’s first in green financing, with green and sustainable debts issued or arranged reached US$57billion in 2021. “While Canadian government sets a key priority on green economy in its latest Budget, Canadian companies thriving in this area may also look for funding and scale-up opportunities in Hong Kong,” she added.
Before closing, Ms Mo said that with the resumption of free travel this year, HKETO looks forward to bringing more Hong Kong related events and speakers to Canada, such as a Hong Kong-based unicorn to share the latest I&T and Web3 developments in Hong Kong later this year. With the opening of borders, she looked forward to facilitating an ACCE delegation to visit Hong Kong to experience the city’s business vibrancy.
HKETO has been sponsoring the Best Asia Pacific Business Award since its inception in 2010. The award recognises those entrepreneurs who have made a business success by using Hong Kong as a platform for their business expansion to the Asia Pacific region.
The 2023 ACCE's Best Asia Pacific Business Award was given to the Founder and Business Development Director of Fuwa Fuwa Pancakes, Mr Benson Lau. Specialising in handcrafted Japanese soufflé pancakes with an array of toppings & café drinks, the Hong Kong-based company is gearing up to expand to different cities in Canada and internationally with locations in Shenzhen, Manchester, Paris, Texas, Orlando and more.
香港經貿處處長於創業協進會加拿大傑出華裔創業家2023頒獎晚宴頒發「最佳亞太貿易獎」
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於四月十五日出席創業協進會舉辦的加拿大傑出華裔創業家2023頒獎晚宴，並頒發「最佳亞太貿易獎」。
巫菀菁為頒獎晚宴開幕禮致辭時指出，2023年對加拿大和香港而言都是特別的一年，因為兩地均從新冠疫情挑戰中顯著恢復。
「國際環境變化為東盟及中東海灣地區帶來新機遇，而香港在這些變化中肩負一定角色。在『一國兩制』框架下，香港是全球唯一享有東方與西方優勢交匯的城市，香港會繼續發揮協調角色，加強全球商貿合作。」
巫菀菁指出香港作為國際金融中心，正積極提升成為國際級的籌募資金平台。截至去年底，已集資達4.6兆美元。「中國內地與香港推出多個互聯互通項目，讓內地及世界各地的資本市場和投資者聯繫，香港在促進加拿大、印太地區及其他區域之間的金融合作方面定能作出更多貢獻。」
巫菀菁續指，「加港兩地亦正建立綠色經濟的共同目標而作出緊密聯繫。」香港的綠色金融業領先亞洲，2021年，在香港發行或安排的綠色和可持續債務達5.7億美元。她補充道：「加拿大政府在最新的財政預算案中重點關注綠色經濟，在這方面發展蓬勃的加拿大公司正好考慮在香港尋找融資及發展商機。」
最後，巫菀菁展望，隨着香港今年恢復通關，香港經貿處將為加拿大帶來更多與香港相關的活動和講者，例如在今年稍後時間，一家香港獨角獸企業將分享香港創科和Web3的最新發展。隨着各地打開門戶，她期待為創業協進會代表團到訪香港提供協助，讓代表團體驗香港商業活動的繁盛興旺。
香港經貿處自2010年「最佳亞太貿易獎」成立以來便贊助頒授該獎，表揚善用香港作為平台、拓展業務至亞太區域而取得成功的企業家。
創業協進會加拿大傑出華裔創業家2023「最佳亞太貿易獎」得獎者是Fuwa Fuwa Pancakes創辦人暨業務發展總裁劉京翰。該公司同時以香港作基地，專售配料多樣化的日式手工梳乎里班戟及咖啡店飲品，並正大力拓展業務至加拿大不同城市和世界各地，包括深圳、曼徹斯特、巴黎、德州及奧蘭多等。
