Pan-democrats warned not to block funding for Hong Kong finance body

Exco member says the advisory group needs more resources to promote the sector in the city, or risk falling behind other countries

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Financial Services Development Council chairwoman Laura Cha Shih May-lung is calling for more human capital. Photo: Tony Cheung

Published: 8:00am, 23 Sep 2017Updated: 8:00am, 23 Sep 2017

A top adviser to the Hong Kong government has warned that opposition lawmakers threatened the prospects of the city’s financial services industry if they refused to approve funding for the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC).

Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairwoman of the FSDC, said it needed resources to organise overseas missions to promote Hong Kong’s financial services sector, as well as local programmes to reach out to university students interested in a financial career.

Cha is a member of the Executive Council, which advises the city’s leader on policies.

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Before Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was elected chief executive in March, she said she did not understand why the FSDC was not given “executive power or resources” to do its work.

The council was created by Lam’s predecessor, Leung Chun-ying, in 2013, with staff seconded from the government, the Trade Development Council and regulators.

Speaking on the sidelines of a trade symposium in London, Cha said the situation had yet to improve since Lam took office in July.

“The new term of government promised to give us more resources, and officials will go to the Legislative Council again to seek funding approval,” Cha said. “We need dedicated staff to do our own studies and promotion.”

In January, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau shelved a proposal to appoint an executive director position for the FSDC after opposition from pan-democratic lawmakers.