Carrie Lam officiating the ceremony, and Ren Xuefeng, Wen Guohui, Dai Dongchang and Chen Zhiying attended the "AMTD · Greater Bay Night" in Davos. Political and business leaders together discuss the development and vision of the Greater Bay Area

2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will be held in the town of Davos, Switzerland from January 22nd to 25th. The theme of this year's meeting is "Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, audiences are expected to exceed 3,000, including Wang Qishan, Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation and other representatives from political and government delegations, business leaders, academic representatives, art and media leaders.

As the only Hong Kong-based financial institution of the global strategic partner of World Economic Forum, AMTD will once again set up "AMTD House" at the Davos Annual Meeting and host “Greater Bay Night “and “Greater Bay Entrepreneurship Day “for the first time in the history of Davos. We specially invited Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government, Wen Guohui, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Guangzhou and the Guangzhou Government delegation to officiate the ceremony and jointly showcase the development achievements of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

On 23rd January, during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, “Greater Bay Night” was successfully held by the AMTD Group, a comprehensive financial institution rooted in Hong Kong, based in the Greater Bay Area, backed by the motherland and the only Hong Kong-based strategic partner of World Economic Forum. The event was officiated by Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government and Wen Guohui, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Guangzhou respectively. Ren Xuefeng, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and former Deputy Secretary of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Dai Dongchang, Vice Minister of Transport attended the “Greater Bay Night” and witnessed the development achievements of the Greater Bay Area together with more than 300 guests from different countries and leaders from political, business, academic, and media sectors . This is the first time to host conference themed with “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” in Davos’ history for nearly 50 years. It is officiated by the two most representative guests from the Greater Bay Area, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Mayor of the Guangzhou Municipal Government. This was the first time for the Greater Bay Area to showcase the development opportunities and achievements to the world at the Davos annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum gave the opening remarks for the “Greater Bay Night”: As a comprehensive financial institution rooted in Hong Kong, based in the Greater Bay Area, the development of AMTD is benefited from the prosperity and stability of the construction and development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The implementation of the construction of the Greater Bay Area is a historical opportunity. As an entrepreneur in the Greater Bay Area, Calvin Choi hopes to engage in the new era reform of our country, join the construction and development of the Greater Bay Area, become a witness, participant, contributor and beneficiary of the Greater Bay Area through our efforts, with the sincere spirit and determination to be the first person. We aim to build the Greater Bay Area into an international technology innovation center, capital market and financial center and talent cultivation center. AMTD will continuously play the role of “super connector” to promote the interconnection of capital and resources and help more enterprises and innovative talents in the Greater Bay Area to present in the international stage.

Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government expressed her appreciation for AMTD’s efforts in promoting Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and promoting the construction and development of the Greater Bay Area during her officiating speech. Carrie Lam mentioned, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a major initiative decided by President Xi and based on the overall and long-term national plan. It is also a major decision to maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability. There are several success factors in implementing the construction of the Greater Bay Area. The first one is the overall strategic deployment of the country. President Xi is highly concerned about the construction of the Greater Bay Area. The state has also established a special leading committee of the Greater Bay Area construction chaired by Han Zheng, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and Member of Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and Macao SAR Government as members, in order to promote the international technology innovation center for the Greater Bay Area including Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The second factor is the construction of infrastructure has further promoted the interconnection of the Greater Bay Area, especially the connection between the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the high-speed rail. The last one is to promote humanities and capital exchanges in the Greater Bay Area and build a better-quality living circle. She believes that the development of the Greater Bay Area will have a much better future.

Wen Guohui, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Guangzhou thanked AMTD for its support to Guangzhou. Wen Guohui said that Hong Kong and Guangzhou are important hubs in the Greater Bay Area with Hong Kong as the international financial, shipping and trade center and Guangzhou as a national historical and cultural center and one of the major economic cities. Both cities also play an irreplaceable role. The opening of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail has improved the transportation efficiency of the Greater Bay Area and further shortened the distance among the people in the Greater Bay Area. Guangzhou will work together with the Greater Bay Area cities including Hong Kong, to jointly promote the construction and development of the Greater Bay Area to a higher level of prosperity.

Dai Dongchang, Vice Minister of Transport said that the continuous improvement of the transportation system has laid a solid foundation for deepening the cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and promoting the construction of the Greater Bay Area. China will promote the high-quality development of transportation in the Greater Bay Area, further enhance the global influence of the Greater Bay Area and the level of interconnection between the Area and surrounding cities, drive the Pan Pearl River Delta region to achieve a higher level of opening up, promote to build a world-class Greater Bay Area and a world-class city group, and further play the leading role of the Greater Bay Area in China's transportation construction.

Subsequently, Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government, Ren Xuefeng, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee and former Deputy Secretary of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee, Wen Guohui, Deputy Party Secretary of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Guangzhou, Dai Dongchang, Vice Minister of Transport, Chen Zhiying, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou and Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group went on stage to make a toast and mark the climax of the night.

"Greater Bay Night" was anchored by Carol Yu, producer and anchor of Phoenix TV and World Economic Forum 2018 Young Global Leader. It has also specially held a panel discussion with Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Bill Liu, Founder & CEO of Royole Corporation and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Raymond Yung, Chief Executive Officer of L.R. Capital Group on the establishment of an international science and technology innovation center in the Greater Bay Area. Also, Francis Leung, Chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies was invited to give the closing remarks.

It is the second year to set up "AMTD House" in Davos and host influential events there. During the World Economic Forum 2018 Annual Meeting, it was the first time that the “AMTD House” was set up successfully and held the first “Hong Kong Night” in the history of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government officiated the night and presented the glory of the “Pearl of the Orient” to the global political and business leaders. This year, “AMTD House” was established again and there not only hosted the “Greater Bay Night” and “Greater Bay Entrepreneurship Day”, but also brought the signature foods and drinks from the Greater Bay Area to Davos, showcasing the charm and vitality to the global political and business leaders.