Perspectives on the GBA opportunity through different lenses
Hear first-hand from the recently appointed Hong Kong Commissioner for the Development of the GBA, HKTDC and InvestHK, on Hong Kong’s initiatives to promote Hong Kong’s role in the GBA, progress to-date and upcoming developments.
Does the mainland have the same view about Hong Kong’s role or does it have different aspirations? What is the role for Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and does this compete with Hong Kong? Hear from the China Britain Business Council (CBBC) on their perspectives on how they see the future for international business in the GBA, and Hong Kong’s role and from one of the authors of the recently published report on the GBA by the 2022 Foundation.
About the speakers
Prof. Anthony Yeh is Chair Professor of the Department of Urban Planning and Design of the University of Hong Kong. He is a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of TWAS (World Academy of Sciences) and Academy of Social Sciences in the UK. His main areas of specialisation are in urban development and planning in Hong Kong and China, especially the Pearl River Delta, and the applications of geographic information systems (GIS) as planning support system for smart cities. Recently, he is carrying out a Strategic Public Policy Research of PICO on “In Search of New Economic Cooperation Models Between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area” (with George C.S. Lin, Zhigang Tao, Xingjian Liu, and Fiona F. Yan) and participated as a researcher in the study on “Creating Hong Kong’s New Advantages in the Greater Bay Area” of the 2022 Foundation.
Ms Margaret Fong is the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) since 1 October 2014. With a global network of 50 offices, Ms Fong heads this international team whose mission is to create and facilitate opportunities in global trade for Hong Kong-based companies. She joined the HKTDC in 2010 as Deputy Executive Director, responsible for the international promotion of Hong Kong’s product and service industries and the Council’s office network worldwide.
Ms Fong has worked in a variety of public service posts, beginning her career as an Administrative Officer with the Hong Kong Government. From 1997 to 1999, she served as Deputy Director-General in the Washington Economic and Trade Office of the Hong Kong SAR Government.
She was Deputy Secretary for Transport from 1999 to 2004, Director-General of the Washington Economic and Trade Office from 2004 to 2006, and Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, from 2006 to 2008, representing the Hong Kong SAR Government in the United States. Before joining the HKTDC, Ms Fong was the Commissioner for Tourism from November 2008 to December 2009. She is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong.
Mr Stephen Phillips is the Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Government Department responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment into Hong Kong.
In a career focused on Asia for more than thirty years, Mr Phillips first moved to Hong Kong in 1989 holding senior investment banking positions with Deutsche and BZW/Barclays Capital before co-founding a Hong Kong-based group of companies providing IT, financial and consultancy services across Asia. In 2004, he joined the UK’s Department of International Trade before becoming the Chief Executive of the China Britain Business Council in 2006, as well as Chairman of the EU China Business Association.
Mr Phillips holds a BSc in Chemistry and Law from the University of Exeter.
Tom Simpson is the Managing Director, China Operations & China Chief Representative at the China Britain-Business Council.
Tom is based out of Beijing and leads the CBBC’s Government Affairs, Policy, Business Environment, Regional, Membership & Events, and Operations teams in China.
He has been at the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) since joining in 2013 as Guangzhou Chief Representative. In 2015, he moved to Beijing to take on the role of Director, Creative Industries & Sports, before being becoming Senior Director, Service Delivery (China) in 2018.
Tom has previously served as the Chongqing General Manager for the British Chamber of Commerce Southwest China from 2010 to 2011, and General Manager of the British Chamber of Commerce Guangdong from 2011 to 2013 where he was based in Guangzhou.
Tom is originally from Edinburgh and attended Leeds University where he studied Chinese. Before University Tom volunteered for the British charity Project Trust in Xinjiang between 2004 to 2005.
Graduated from the University of Hong Kong, Mr Tommy Yuen joined the Administrative Service of the then Hong Kong Government back in 1985. He has served in a number of different policy bureaux and departments including the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington DC, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the Development Bureau, the Beijing Office and the Government Property Agency. He was the Government Property Administrator for three years from 2015 and became the head of the Greater Bay Area Office of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau since January 2019.
About the moderator
Neal Beatty is a Partner and General Manager of Control Risks’ Hong Kong office. In this role, he is responsible for client relationships in Hong Kong, developing new business with multinational clients, and advising on areas of business risk that impact their operations in Hong Kong, Greater China and the Asia Pacific region.
Neal also consults with clients on issues relating to strategic risk management and crisis preparedness, including restructuring and reputational issues. He has assisted clients dealing with sensitive internal compliance and business continuity issue and regularly conducts crisis management workshops with senior management groups. A fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker, Neal regularly gives presentations to both MNC and Chinese companies on a range of business risk-related issues.
Neal holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Studies from the University of Leeds and a BSc in chemistry from Warwick University, both in the UK.