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Hong Kong finance chief Paul Chan goes on charm offensive in Paris with Greater Bay Area delegation

  • Financial Secretary Paul Chan invites VivaTech, Europe’s biggest tech exhibition, and a leading concert hall to Hong Kong
  • Trip is Chan’s first joint delegation with Macau and Guangdong officials to promote business opportunities in Greater Bay Area, with next stop the US

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Delegation officials including finance chief Paul Chan (second right) meet French counterparts in Paris. Photo: SCMP
Cannix Yau

Hong Kong’s finance chief has gone on a charm offensive in Paris to deepen bilateral business collaborations and cultural exchanges as he invited Europe’s biggest tech show and a leading concert hall to the Asian city.

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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Friday visited VivaTech in Paris, in which Hong Kong is taking part for the first time. More than 10 local start-ups, covering the fields of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, the environment, medicine and finance, were displaying their latest technological innovations.

The minister will head to the United States next week on a trip expected to span four days and include stops in San Francisco and Berkeley in California.

This is Chan’s first joint delegation with Macau and Guangdong officials to promote business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, Beijing’s plan to link 11 southern Chinese cities into an economic powerhouse that rivals Silicon Valley.

During the tech event, Chan called on participating Hong Kong companies to take advantage of the opportunity to actively expand their business, carry out further exchanges and cooperation, and jointly tell the story of Hong Kong’s advances in innovation and technology to the rest of the world.

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He also met the senior management of VivaTech, inviting them to hold exhibitions and activities in Hong Kong.

At a separate occasion, Chan also invited the Theatre National de Chaillot, one of the largest concert halls in Paris, to take part in the French May Arts Festival in Hong Kong next year.

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