With the increasingly serious problems such as climate change, resource crisis, energy shortage and air pollution, how to balance economic development and ecological environment conservation has become a global concern, and the demand for green financial system has emerged. To help local enterprises seize green investment opportunities and enhance their sustainable competitiveness, the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA), successfully funded by the Trade and Industry Department (TID) ‘s Support Fund for Business Organisations, held the first Green Finance Seminar for non-listed companies in Hong Kong today (26th). Experts and academics were invited to share the latest trend and future development of green finance. At the same time, it also marks the official launch of a series of green finance projects of the factory Chamber of Commerce.

With increasing global interest and investment in green finance, the SAR Government is actively developing and consolidating Hong Kong’s position as the premier green finance hub in the region. However, at present, many enterprises in Hong Kong, especially non-listed companies, are still not fully aware of and have doubts about green finance and the procedures, standards, requirements and capacity building for issuing bonds for green investment projects. In view of this, the CMA applied to the Trade and Industry Department last year for the Support Fund for Business Organizations and was successfully funded to implement the 16-month project “Enhancing the Sustainable Competitiveness of Hong Kong non-listed Enterprises through Green Financial Instruments” to provide enterprises with technical support and advisory services on green finance. Targeted industries include logistics, catering, food manufacturing, environmental protection and property management, as well as general unlisted companies.

The Factory Association today held a seminar on “Understanding Green Finance Business Opportunities for Sustainable Enterprise Development” to kick off the Green Finance project. And invited Mr Ting Kwok-tao, Director, Strategic Services Development, Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency; Mr Wong Tsz-ming, Vice President, Hong Kong Green Finance Association and Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong Investment Funds Association; Mr Wu Bo-Kit, Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Pei LAN Environmental Protection Group; Prof Lo Wing-hung, Head of the Department of Politics and Administration and Director of the Centre for Business Sustainability, Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Dr Cheng Zu-ming, Independent Sustainability Consultant, Share experiences and insights in developing green finance, and brief on how green finance tools can be used to promote sustainable development of enterprises, attracting about 100 representatives from different industries to participate “online” or “offline”.

In his welcoming speech to the seminar, Dr Shi Litak, President of CMA, said that in recent years, many enterprises have actively taken steps to reduce waste from the aspects of production process and product design, on the one hand, reduce operating costs, and at the same time, expand business opportunities and enhance returns through investment in environmental technologies to enhance competitiveness; “However, the lack of awareness of green financial products and green technologies and the ability to prepare attractive large-scale green investment proposals have made it difficult for enterprises to win the favor of traditional banks.” Therefore, the CMA has set up the “Green Finance Knowledge Sharing Online Platform” to provide the industry with practical and detailed green finance information, facilitate the interaction of key stakeholders, and assist smes to obtain one-stop expert support for green bonds/loans. In addition, the manufacturers’ Association has tailored the “Green Finance Enterprise Implementation Guide” for each of the five target industries, providing implementation guidelines and practical tools to help them embark on the road to green finance.

Mr Shi was confident that with the establishment of the Green Finance Project Team, the support of the Trade and Industry Department, the participation of various professionals and the assistance of partner organisations, the Green finance project of CMA would help to enhance the green and sustainable financial development of Hong Kong and align with the Government’s policy objective of developing Hong Kong into a green finance hub in Asia.

Luo Baibai, chairman of CMA Certification Center and Vice president of CMA, expects that this project can promote knowledge sharing and strengthen the ability of local enterprises to manage environmental risks and social risks, at the same time, strengthen the awareness of local enterprises to green opportunities, and use green finance to shape green image and build green brands to improve competitiveness; It also helps connect investors, issuers, experts and other stakeholders for mutual support. He added that more seminars and investor forums would be held in the future to deepen the knowledge and skills of enterprises on green finance, and provide opportunities for enterprises to communicate with potential investors. He looked forward to working with more organizations to promote green finance development in the future, so as to achieve a win-win situation in protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development of enterprises.

The workshop “Insight into Green Finance Business Opportunities for Sustainable Enterprise Development” was held by the Manufacturers’ Association, inviting a number of experts and scholars to share the latest trends and future development of green finance. Front row from left: Yang Limen, CEO of CMA, Dr. Shi Lide, President of CMA, Luo Baibai, Chairman and Vice President of CMA, and Lin Junkang, Chief Operating Officer of CMA

In his speech, Dr. Shi Lide, President of CMA, said that in recent years, enterprises have been actively reducing waste in terms of production process and product design, reducing operating costs, and expanding business opportunities through investment in environmental technology.