Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
January 28, 2026

Hong Kong's AFF 2026 Unites Global Leaders, Launches Business Summit for Financial Empowerment

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TLDR

  • The Asian Financial Forum offers businesses a strategic advantage by connecting them with global investors and facilitating cross-border expansion opportunities through Hong Kong's financial platform.
  • The forum organized over 150 speakers across plenary sessions and workshops, featuring deal-making with 800+ meetings and thematic zones showcasing green finance and technology applications.
  • This event fosters global economic cooperation and sustainable development by integrating finance with key industries to drive innovation and create shared growth opportunities worldwide.
  • Attendees learned that 51.2% of participants believe artificial intelligence should be the top priority in today's rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Impact - Why it Matters

This news matters because it underscores Hong Kong's evolving role as a critical global financial hub amid shifting geopolitical and technological landscapes. The forum's focus on integrating finance with key industries like AI, green energy, and biomedicine signals where future economic growth and investment opportunities lie. For businesses and investors, the event highlights Hong Kong's unique position as a gateway for Chinese enterprises expanding globally and international firms entering the Chinese market, offering practical insights into trends like renminbi internationalization and sustainable finance. The concrete deals and partnerships forged, such as the gold market agreement and cross-border joint ventures, demonstrate tangible outcomes that can influence market dynamics, supply chains, and innovation pipelines. In an era of economic uncertainty, the forum's emphasis on collaboration and resilience provides a roadmap for navigating risks and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in Asia and beyond.

Summary

The 19th Asian Financial Forum (AFF), jointly organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), successfully concluded after drawing over 4,000 political and business leaders from more than 60 countries. This premier event, which kicked off International Financial Week 2026, featured 150+ speakers across plenary sessions, keynote luncheons, and thematic workshops. Key players included Dr. Jose Manuel Barroso, former European Commission President, who discussed Hong Kong's role in regional cooperation amid technological and geopolitical risks, and Dr. Zhu Min, who highlighted opportunities from renminbi internationalization. The forum launched the inaugural Global Business Summit, co-organized by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, HKTDC, and the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), with opening remarks from Financial Secretary Paul Chan and HKTDC Chairman Prof. Frederick Ma. The summit focused on financial empowerment of industries, featuring sessions on Chinese Mainland enterprises going global and strategic collaboration for shared growth, with participants from companies like XPENG, Alibaba, and Investcorp.

Notable developments included a cooperation agreement between Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Shanghai Gold Exchange to strengthen gold market collaboration, positioning Hong Kong as an international gold trading hub. The event also facilitated concrete outcomes through AFF Deal-making, which connected 280+ investors with 600+ projects in 800+ one-on-one meetings, and featured four thematic zones: FutureGreen Showcase, FintechHK Start-up Salon, InnoVenture Salon, and Global Investment Zone. Polling revealed that 51.2% of attendees prioritized artificial intelligence development, followed by energy transition. Additional highlights included project investment sessions on Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis and SKYTOPIA, a food-tech joint venture between Techvalue International and Gryph Holdings facilitated by the HKTDC Sydney Office, and roundtables on fundraising and attracting strategic enterprises. The original release on www.newmediawire.com provides further details on these initiatives and Hong Kong's role as a superconnector between the Chinese Mainland and global markets.

Source Statement

This curated news summary relied on content disributed by NewMediaWire. Read the original source here, Hong Kong's AFF 2026 Unites Global Leaders, Launches Business Summit for Financial Empowerment

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