00:00When we talk about the amount of wealth, and obviously you just had a Wealth for Good event this week,
00:07there seems to be investors looking for stability.
00:10And given what we've been seeing, this conflict in the Middle East,
00:15it does raise a lot of reputational questions about Dubai, for example, as a wealth hub.
00:21Singapore, of course, in the last year or so has been dealing with its own scandals around money laundering and
00:27the like.
00:28I'm just wondering how you view Hong Kong now.
00:30I think you've said there's a bit of a safe haven sort of status here,
00:34where Hong Kong is re-emerging as a primary destination for shifting capital and shifting wealth.
00:42Since this war erupted, have you seen this sort of narrative gain traction in any way?
00:48Well, Hong Kong is not just a safe haven for parking capital,
00:54but I think it is also a destination for opportunities for growth.
01:00Even before the onset of the Middle East conflict, last year, for example,
01:05as you know, last year our stock market rise rose by about 26%,
01:11on top of the 18% increase in 2014.
01:15When we look at the capital flow, who are the major players?
01:19About 35% of the capital flows are from the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and ASEAN.
01:29And other 25% from mainland, southbound investors.
01:35Another 15% to 18% local players.
01:40So, the sources of capital have been quite international and diversified.
01:47There are capital floating in, there are capital floating out.
01:52But in terms of net inflows, last year was huge.
01:56It is over 90 billion U.S. dollars.
02:0180% increase compared to the year before.
02:04So, I think to us in the government, I think, for me, the challenge is how to make sure
02:11I will continue to have a stable supply of quality issuers, quality companies
02:19to get this on a stock market.
02:22I still remember last year the largest IPO then,
02:26when they ran these things, there were calls from the U.S. about,
02:35hey, perhaps we may not be, we should not invest into it.
02:40But the reality is, the cornerstone investors are all the leading investors.
02:46So, if they are good companies with good track record and the business proposition is good,
02:54I think we do not need to worry about capital.
02:57So, number one priority to me is to ensure there will be a continual supply of quality issuers
03:03coming to the Hong Kong market.
03:05At the moment, we have over 400 such companies killing up for listing from the mainland.
03:12Last year, we leased about 119 only.
03:14There are also companies from Middle East and ASEAN interested in our market.
03:20And last year, we also leased a mining company from Central Asia as well.
03:26So, we want to diversify ourselves in terms of issuers, in terms of investors.
03:36As I mentioned last year, the capital from the Middle East, from ASEAN also floating in.
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