In a rapidly changing global landscape, Hong Kong has demonstrated its strategic position in connectivity, collaboration and innovation, which highlights the city’s influence on policymakers and on driving global trends, industry leaders said.

Over 300 young professionals, policymakers and industry leaders from Hong Kong, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Southeast Asia and the Middle East gathered at the Global Youth Powerhouse Summit 2024, organized by Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy, on Thursday.

“The world has changed immensely in geopolitics, economic development, technological transformation, trade protection and global stability. As future leaders of the world, it is timely for young professionals to reflect on and examine how they should respond to the challenges,” Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Cheuk Wing-hing said at the opening ceremony of the summit.

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The deputy chief secretary for administration added that Hong Kong’s unique position under "one country, two systems" has endowed the city with unsurpassed advantages in connecting easily with both the Chinese mainland and the global community, particularly in high-impact sectors such as healthcare, finance, technology and the creative industries.

Looking forward, Cheuk said national strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Greater Bay Area have brought enormous development opportunities, and hence reinforce the city’s position as a global nexus for young professional talent.

“The seizing of these opportunities is further aided by the recent enhancement of the mainland and Hong Kong’s Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which introduces new liberalization measures in different forms across service sectors where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages, in areas such as financial services, construction and related engineering services, testing and certification, and so on,” Cheuk said.

Other thought leaders shared the view that Hong Kong’s young professionals should better leverage the city’s unique role in connectivity to realize their goals and contribute to the building of a global community with a shared future.

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“Hong Kong has the role of superconnector, and the city’s future is always about adding value. The city needs to know who it is connecting with. Therefore Hong Kong has to understand the needs of the Chinese mainland and the world,” said Bernard Chan, chairman of homegrown think-tank Our Hong Kong Foundation.

Chan said future leaders should embrace changes and not get complacent, as past successes are no guarantee of future performance.

“Hong Kong has always been a city of connectivity. We have people going in and out, and the city has always represented mainland companies that are going out and international counterparts that are coming in,” HSBC Asia Pacific Co-Chief Executive David Liao said via a telecast at the summit.

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“You (future leaders) really have an authentic and inquisitive character in this changing world. With the rapid speed in technological advancement intruding into finance, trade and into all sorts of industries, we are keen for thought leadership on how to bring originality into services,” Liao added.

Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, said future leaders need to be positive about the future, confident in themselves, and have the capability to make things happen.