Former Fed Chairman to join Global Financial & Business Leaders at AFF
8 December 2015 – Dr Ben S Bernanke, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve System, will be the keynote speaker at the ninth edition of the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) to be held on 18 and 19 January, 2016 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
Organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the AFF 2016 adopts the theme of “Asia: Shaping the New Paradigm for Growth” to examine the region’s evolving opportunities and challenges as well as their implications for global growth.
Dr Bernanke, who served two terms as US Federal Reserve Chairman between 2006 and 2014, will share his insights on the outlook for the world economy in an increasingly gloablised economic environment at the Keynote Luncheon and a separate dialogue session on 19 January 2016.
Global thought leadership
The AFF 2016 will feature some of the most influential financial and business leaders from around the world, including Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman of the Board, Nestlé S.A; and Jean Lemierre, Chairman, BNP Paribas. Other global financial leaders to attend the forum include Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara; György Matolcsy, Governor, Central Bank of Hungary; Kiatchai Sophastienphong, Vice Minister of Finance, Thailand; and Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority.
Mainland heavyweights gather at AFF
With Hong Kong serving as an international financial hub for the Chinese mainland and Asia, a star-studded line-up of speakers from the region will take part in the AFF 2016. The forum will welcome a trio of the mainland’s most important bankers, namely Jiang Jianqing, Chairman, ICBC; Niu Ximing, Chairman, Bank of Communications Co., Ltd.; and Wang Hongzhang, Chairman and Executive Director, China Construction Bank Corporation. In addition, Wang Jianlin, Chairman, Dalian Wanda Group and Ding Xuedong, Chairman & CEO, China Investment Corporation will also share their insights on global financial developments and investment opportunities at the event.
ASEAN connections
The economic prospects for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies will also figure prominently during discussions at the AFF 2016, with the region’s leading lights, among them Chairul Tanjung, Founder and Chairman, CT Corp; Wishnu Wardhana, President Director and Group CEO, PT. Indika Energy Tbk; and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO, Ayala Corporation set to join the forum.
Decoding the Belt and Road Initiative
The AFF 2016 will feature dedicated sessions to examine the implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, particularly its enabling of investment opportunities across the related economies, leveraging of increasing investment outflows from the mainland, as well as Hong Kong’s super-connector role in bringing businesses and financial players into the fold.
Extended speaker line-up
The line-up of financial and business leaders speaking at the AFF 2016 also includes:
- Per Bolund, Minister for Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs, Deputy Minister for Finance, Sweden
- Chen Shuang, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, China Everbright Limited
- Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance, Luxembourg
- Paul Gruenwald, Managing Director and Chief Economist, Asia Pacific, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
- Olivier Guersent, Director General of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
- Liu Mingkang, Former Chairman, China Banking Regulatory Commission
- Neil Shen, Founding & Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China
- Ben Way, CEO, Macquarie Group Asia
- Helen Wong, Chief Executive, Greater China, HSBC
AFF: The voice in global finance
Launched in 2007, the AFF brought together more than 2,600 financial and business leaders from 39 countries and regions in 2015, and is regarded as the premier annual event in Asia for global finance professionals. Previous editions have welcomed US Secretaries of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, while Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman spoke at AFF 2015.
Event Website: http://www.asianfinancialforum.com/