Following is the speech by the Director-General of Trade and Industry, Ms Maggie Wong, at the opening session of the APEC Symposium on Green and Low-carbon Transition through Digital Technologies in Guilin on June 20:
尊敬的王崧副主任 (Vice Minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China Mr Wang Song), 陳奕君部長 (Member of the Standing Committee and Head of the Publicity Department, CPC Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee Ms Chen Yijun), Secretary General Amorn Chomchoey (Secretary General of the National Cyber Security Agency of Thailand, AVM Amorn Chomchoey), 魯梅高官 (APEC Senior Official of China, Ms Lu Mei), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you all today in this breathtaking city of Guilin. The stunning landscape of Guilin makes it an ideal place to convene this APEC symposium on green and low-carbon transition, as it reminds us of the urgency and necessity to combat the adverse impact of climate change to our environment. Allow me to first thank the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cyberspace Administration of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Guilin Municipal People's Government for the kind invitation and the excellent hospitality.
The pursuit of green and low-carbon transition has become a pressing priority for the global community. As President Xi stressed at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting last year, we should forge a new path of transformation for green development and build global synergy on climate change. Hong Kong, China fully recognises digital technologies as a key driving force for this new path of transformation, and appreciates today's opportunity to share some of our thoughts on this important agenda.
Promoting green and low-carbon development is central to achieving sustainable growth. Hong Kong, China is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2021, we launched our Climate Action Plan, which sets out ambitious strategies and targets to reduce our carbon emissions towards the eventual goal of carbon neutrality before 2050.
Green technologies play a pivotal role in supporting our climate actions. Under the action plan, we set up the Green Tech Fund to provide funding support for research and development projects on decarbonisation technologies with high application and commercialisation potential. Our flagship innovation and technology research centres, together house more than 200 green start-ups and companies, one of which, a home-grown smart farming firm, was actually Hong Kong, China's winner of the inaugural APEC Bio-Circular-Green Award last year. These companies offer advanced, yet pragmatic, technological solutions to tackle environmental challenges, and some of them are already expanding their businesses in the Mainland and overseas markets.
Adhering to the new development philosophy of innovation and green development, we promulgated the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint in 2022. Last year, we released the Action Plan on Modern Logistics Development, which recognised the importance of developing sound, smart and green logistics, including through the use of artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, e-payment platforms and trade finance platforms. This year, we will set up a Digital Policy Office to accelerate the development of the digital economy and smart city.
Another essential component of green and low-carbon transition is green finance. Massive funding is needed for the transition. Leveraging our traditional role as an international financial centre whilst promoting innovation and the use of new technologies, I am proud to say that Hong Kong, China is Asia's leader in green investment and financing. Last year, we were the first government globally to issue tokenised green bonds, and this year we offered the world's first multi-currency digital green bonds. As of now, more than a third of Asia's green and sustainable bond issuances were arranged in Hong Kong, China.
The success of our climate actions lies not only in domestic efforts, but also in international cooperation. In this regard, APEC offers an unparalleled platform where cooperative approach can be fostered and solutions can be incubated to complement global efforts. For instance, the SOM Steering Committee for Economic and Technical Cooperation, or the SCE in short, and its sub-fora have been conducting peer review on low-carbon energy policies, with input from experts, and contributing to policy recommendations. Today's Symposium, with Hong Kong, China's strong support, is going to deepen practical collaboration on leveraging digitalisation towards green and low-carbon transition.
In recent years, APEC has made significant strides in advancing its sustainability agenda, from the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, to the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green Economy, and the current APEC host, Peru, is also spearheading efforts to develop an APEC policy guidance on low-carbon hydrogen policy frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region. These accomplishments collectively provide a comprehensive and overarching framework for APEC to advance concrete actions towards this common goal.
As the Deputy Lead Shepherd of the APEC Energy Working Group, Hong Kong, China organised a capacity building workshop in 2022 to share best practices and technologies to promote transition to green data centres. Next month, we will host another APEC workshop in Hong Kong, China, providing a platform for capacity building on the application of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and digital twin, to advance the uptake of renewable energy in the region. We very much look forward to welcoming APEC member economies, experts and private-sector stakeholders to this workshop.
Today's Symposium underscores the vision of APEC in fostering exchanges on emerging issues and technologies that are critically important in building a green, sustainable and inclusive future for the region. On this note, let me reaffirm Hong Kong, China's commitment to leveraging digital technologies as a new quality productive force and we stand ready to contribute to APEC's efforts towards green, low-carbon and high-quality development. Thank you.
在此我祝願今天的亞太經合組織數字技術促進綠色低碳轉型研討會圓滿成功、成果豐碩。謝謝大家。