Speakers
Keynote Speakers

Professor Paul Romer
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2018
Professor Paul Romer, economist and policy entrepreneur, is a co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences and University Professor in Economics at NYU. He has spent his career at the intersection of economics, innovation, technology, and urbanization, working to speed up human progress.
Professor Romer previously served as the Chief Economist at the World Bank where he worked to advance the multilateral institution’s critical research function. He is the Founding Director of NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management, and the founder of the Charter Cities initiative. He has made numerous contributions to public policy, including writing an opinion for the United States Justice Department on the Microsoft Antitrust ruling, serving on the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Independent Academic Advisory Panel on University Policy, and consulting for a host of other governments and legislators on policy initiatives tied to education, urbanization, science, technology, and innovation.
Prior to coming to NYU, Professor Romer taught at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and in the Economics departments of the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester. He is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a non-resident scholar at Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, Ontario.
Professor Paul Romer
2018 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences and University Professor in Economics of New York University

The Honourable Paul Chan Mo-po, GBM, GBS, MH, JP
Financial Secretary, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Mr. Chan is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a former President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Before joining the Government, Mr. Chan held a number of public service positions including member of the Legislative Council and Chairman of Legal Aid Services Council.
Mr. Chan served as Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government from July 2012 to January 2017. He was appointed Financial Secretary on 16 January, 2017.
The Honourable Paul Chan Mo-po,
GBM, GBS, MH, JP
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Panellists

Professor Hongbin Cai
Dean
Chair of Economics
Professor Hongbin Cai is the Dean of the HKU Business School and Chair of Economics. He received his B.A. in Mathematics from Wuhan University in 1988, his M.A. in Economics from Peking University in 1991, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1997.
From 1997 to 2005, he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. From December 2010 to January 2017, he served as Dean of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He is a National Chang Jiang Scholar (awarded by Ministry of Education of China) and a National Outstanding Young Researcher (awarded by National Science Foundation of China). Professor Cai has published many academic papers in top international journals in economics and finance, in a wide range of areas including game theory, Chinese economy, industrial organization and corporate finance.
Professor Cai was elected as a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He was a member of the National People’s Congress, and a member of the Central Committee of China Democratic League and Vice Chairman of its Committee of Economic Affairs. He was the founding president of The Chinese Finance Association (TCFA, overseas). He serves as an Independent Director on the boards of CCB International (Holdings) Limited, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, and Ping An Bank Company Limited.
Professor Hongbin Cai
Chair Professor of Economics, Dean of HKU Business School

Mrs. Laura M Cha
Chairman, HKEX
Mrs Cha is a member of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong, Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd and a member of the Financial Leaders Forum.
Mrs Cha is an Independent Non-Executive Director of HSBC Holdings plc (www.hsbc.com), and the Non-Executive Chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (www.hsbc.com.hk), the Asia Pacific subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. She is a Non-Executive Director of Unilever plc (www.unilever.com); a Senior International Advisor of Foundation Assets Management Sweden AB; and a member of Sotheby’s International Advisory Board. In addition, Mrs Cha is also Vice Chairman of the International Advisory Council of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and a Director of the World Federation of Exchanges.
Mrs Cha became the first, and to-date, the only person outside Mainland China to join the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China at the vice ministerial rank when she was appointed as Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in January 2001. She served in that position until September 2004. Mrs Cha worked for the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong from 1991 to 2000, becoming its Deputy Chairman in 1998.
Mrs Cha has previously served as Independent Non-Executive Director of the following companies:
- 2004-2009 Johnson Electric Holdings Limited (listed in Hong Kong)
- 2006-2009 Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd (listed in Shanghai)
- 2008-2012 Tata Consultancy Services Limited (listed in Mumbai)
- 2006-2012 Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (listed in Hong Kong)
Mrs Cha was Chairman of the University Grants Committee in Hong Kong from 2007 to 2011 and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Corruption of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong from 2007 to 2012. She was also Chairman of The Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong from January 2013 to July 2018. She was a member of the Global Agenda Council on the Global Financial System at the World Economic Forum from 2010 to 2013.
Mrs Cha earned her BA degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a JD degree from the Santa Clara University in California. She practiced law in San Francisco and Hong Kong from 1983 to 1991. She was also a former member of the Committee of 100 in the US. She received an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Law from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2002.
She was awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 2001, a Gold Bauhinia Star in 2009 and the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2017 by the Hong Kong Government for her public service.
Mrs. Laura M Cha
Chairman, HKEX

Mr. Stark Chan, BBS
Founder of Bull-B Technology Limited
Chan Yik Hei is a young entrepreneur in Hong Kong. In 2004, he achieved the Second Award in Engineering Category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his invention, Total Equip, a domestic security robot modelled after R2¬D2. As an honor, an asteroid was named after him as “20780” Chanyikhei” by LINEAR under the Ceres Connection program. Also, he was invited by the California Institute of Technology to NASA (MESUR Pathfinder), thus he was later widely recognized as “Son of the Star”.
In 2011, Mr Chan founded his Bull.B Tech which focus on bringing creative ideas in any digital marketing solution and implanting latest technology for iOS and Android application. In 2012, Mr Chan won “HKCS Outstanding ICT Achiever Award”, “Hong Kong ICT Award” and “Best Startup Business Award”. In 2016, Mr Chan was awarded Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Hong Kong Government.
Mr. Stark Chan, BBS
Founder of Bull-B Technology

Professor Zhiwu Chan
Chair Professor of Finance, HKU Business School
Director, Asia Global Institute
Professor Zhiwu Chen is Director of the Asia Global Institute, Chair Professor of Finance and Victor and William Fung Professor in Economics at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Chen is a former Professor of Finance at Yale University (1999-2017). His research covers finance theory, the sociology of finance, economic history, quantitative history, emerging markets, as well as China’s economy and capital markets.
Professor Chen started his career by publishing research papers in top economics and finance journals on topics related to financial markets and theories of asset pricing. Around 2001, he began to expand research beyond mature markets by investigating market development and institution-building issues in the context of China’s transition process and other emerging markets. He successfully led efforts to construct historical financial and social databases from China’s historical archives and has written on economic/social history topics. In 2013, he started the annual Summer School for Quantitative History cum International Symposium on Quantitative History at Tsinghua University and continues to organize them at Peking University, with the goal of promoting quantitative historical research in China and beyond. He has received research awards including the Graham and Dodd Award (2013), the Pacesetter Research Award (1999), the Merton Miller Prize (1994), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange Competitive Research Award (1994).
Professor Chen has been a member of HKU Council since November 2018. He is on the board of directors of Noah Holdings and Bairong Inc. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and also served on the board of directors at IDG Energy Investment, Bank of Communications, PetroChina and Lord Abbett China. He was a co-founder and partner of Zebra Capital Management from 2001 to 2011.
He is a frequent contributor to media publications in China on topics of economic policy, market development, institutional reform and historical research. His work has been widely published and regularly featured in major newspapers and magazines in the United States, Hong Kong, China and many other countries. In Burson-Marsteller’s 2012 “G20 Influencers” report, Professor Chen was listed as one of the top ten political influencers in China.
Professor Zhiwu Chen
Chair Professor of Finance, HKU Business School
Director, Asia Global Institute

Professor Edward K Y Chen, CBE, GBS, JP
Chairman of Board, HKU SPACE
Professor Chen is currently Chairman of HKU SPACE (School of Professional and Continuing Education), Distinguished Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Hong Kong, Honorary Professor of the Open University of Hong Kong and the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Hong Kong, Chairman of the Council of Advisers of the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research, and independent non-executive director of First Pacific Company, Delta Asia Financial Group, Hang Seng Qianhai Asset Management, and Wharf Holdings. He is the former President of Lingnan University in Hong Kong introducing liberal arts education, and former Chairman of the Consumer Council promoting competition policy in Hong Kong. He also served as a member of the Securities and Futures Commission, a trustee of Lloyd George Asset Management, a director of Asia Satellite Telecommunications, Peoples Telephone Company, and Mass Transit Railway Corporation. He is also a former Member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He served as President of the Qianhai Institute for Innovative Research in Shenzhen (2014 to 2017).
Professor Chen was educated at the University of Hong Kong (BA & MSocSc) and Oxford University (DPhil). He is a pioneer in the study of Asia’s newly industrialized economies, and has particular research interest in regional cooperation and the economics of technological change. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Hong Kong, the Open University of Hong Kong, the Education University of Hong Kong and Plymouth University in England.
Professor Edward K Y Chen, CBE, GBS, JP
Chairman of Board, HKU SPACE

Dr. Victor K. Fung
Group Chairman, Fung Group
Dr. Victor K. Fung is an international business leader, thought leader and philanthropist, who holds professional and civic appointments in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and overseas.
He is Group Chairman of the Fung Group, a Hong Kong-based multinational group which comprises major operating groups engaging in sourcing, logistics, distribution and retailing. They include Li & Fung Limited, Global Brands Group Holding Limited, Convenience Retail Asia Limited and other privately held entities. Dr. Fung played a leading role in driving the development of the supply chain infrastructure at Li & Fung Limited, which has enabled it to become the leading consumer goods design, development, sourcing, and logistics company for major retailers and brands around the world.
Dr. Fung is an independent non-executive Directorships with Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (Hong Kong).
Dr. Fung is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong, a multi-disciplinary think-tank co-established with the Fung Global Institute to assume and carry forward the Fung Global Institute’s mission to generate and disseminate research and ideas on global issues from Asian perspectives. He is also Chairman of the 2022 Foundation, a non-profit entity focused on research into Hong Kong’s long-term competitiveness.
Also in Hong Kong, Dr. Fung is a Non-official Member of Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers on Innovation and Strategic Development, an Adviser of the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance and Chairman of the Civil Service Training Advisory Board. He is a former Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (1991-2000), a Hong Kong representative on the APEC Business Advisory Council (1996-2003), Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (1999-2008), Chairman of the Council of The University of Hong Kong (2001-2009), Chairman of the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council (2004-2013) and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme (2014-2018).
On the Chinese Mainland, he is a member of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the Mayor of Beijing, member of the Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, an Honorary Trustee of Peking University and an Honorary Professor of Renmin University. He is a former member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (2003-2018), Vice-Chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (2009-2014).
Internationally, Dr. Fung played a leadership role from 2007 in the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, of which he was Chairman from 2008 to 2010. From 2012 to 2013, he was a member of the World Trade Organisation’s Panel On Defining The Future of Trade.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dr. Fung holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After gaining his Doctorate in Business Economics from Harvard University, he taught as a professor at Harvard Business School before returning to the family business in Hong Kong in 1976.
Dr. Fung is married with three adult children.
Dr. Victor K. Fung
Group Chairman, Fung Group

Professor Kai-ming Cheng
Emeritus Professor, Social Contexts and Policies of Education, HKU
Kai-ming Cheng is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hong Kong. He is Hon Director of Education Policy Unit at the Faculty of Education. He was Chair Professor of Education, Dean of Education, Vice-President and Senior Advisor to the President of the University. His major portfolios in administration was fund-raising and networking, but has also worked in the areas of human resources and campus IT. He taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as Visiting Professor 1996-2006. Trained as a mathematician, he was a school teacher and a principal before he pursued doctoral study at the London Institute of Education, in the realm of education policy and planning. He has been consultant with the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, IIEP and the Asian Development Bank. His research started with underdeveloped rural villages in China, India and Africa. He has been involved in institutional evaluation and accreditation, policy discussion and training in higher education in various jurisdictions, recently in China, Mongolia, Cambodia and Kazakhstan. Currently, he lectures occasionally at the National Academy of Education Administration, China, and SKOLKOVO, Russia. He created the Summer Institute on higher education at HKU, a learning programme for senior leaders in higher education from various countries. His current attention is on the fundamental changes in society and their challenges to education, and focusses on learning as the core business of education. He is on the Global Advisory Boards of various international organisations: National Council for Education and the Economy, (based in DC, US); Global Science of Learning Network (based in DC, US); Nord Anglia International School Group (based in London), and Yidan Prize (a global education prize, based in Hong Kong, Convenor). He is member of China Education 30 Forum, which is a think tank cum advocate in China. Locally he was member of the Education Commission and was instrumental in the comprehensive reform which started 1999. Over the years, he chaired various policy committees relevant to education in Hong Kong, among others, on language and teachers. He started two private schools: Elementi College (1971) and ISF Academy (Co-Founder, 2003). He is among the initiators of “Education 2.1”, an advocacy for education development in Hong Kong. His recent projects are with OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris), UNESCO (Bangkok Regional Office) and Asia Society (based in New York, US). He has delivered hundreds of keynotes around the world. He writes columns in Hong Kong Economic Journal Daily and Shanghai Education, and for three years in Escuela (Spain).
Professor Kai-ming Cheng
Emeritus Professor, Social Contexts and Policies of Education, HKU

Professor Yuk-fai Fong
Management and Strategy
Economics
Associate Dean (Taught Postgraduate)
Professor
Professor Yuk-fai Fong is a Professor of Management and Strategy, with joint appointment in Economics. Prior to HKU, he has taught at Kellogg School of Management and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Professor Fong received his BSSc and MPhil in Economics from Chinese University of Hong Kong, and PhD in Economics from Boston University.
His research interests include Industrial Organization, Competition Policy, Dynamic Games, and Applied Microeconomic Theory. He serves as an Editor for B.E. Journals of Theoretical Economics and Associate Editor for International Journal of Industrial Organization. His research has appeared at leading international journals such as Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economics Studies, RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, International Economics Review, Games and Economic Behavior, Journal of Industrial Economics, and Journal of Economics and Management Strategy. He has consulted for companies such as Shell Oil Company and Platinum Guild International, and is an academic affiliate with Compass LexEcon. Professor Fong won the HKUST Franklin Prize for Teaching Excellent (MBA Required Courses) in 2017, and was a finalist for the award in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
Professor Yuk-fai Fong
Professor in Management & Strategy and Economics, HKU Business School

Ms. Cecilia Ho
President, Lee Hysan Foundation
Cecilia Ho is the President of Lee Hysan Foundation. Cecilia is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Arts Development under the Home Affairs Bureau, the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund Task Force, the Steering Committee for “FOOD-CO” Intermediary Services for Building Capacity in Food Support Service, the Advisory Committee of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration of the University of Hong Kong, the Advisory Committee of the School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as well as the Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Association’s Accreditation and Exemption Committee.
Cecilia is the former Executive Director of Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and former Managing Director and Team Head of Citi Private Bank prior to joining Lee Hysan Foundation.
She has over 30 years of banking experience in various senior management positions including: Asian Business Development Head at Citi Canada; Business Manager for International Personal Banking Business at Citigroup, managing Asia, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa region; Head of Sales & Services at Standard Chartered Bank covering eight countries.
She earned her BBA with honors from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and was presented the HALL OF HONOR AWARD in 2010 by the University of Hawaii College of Business. She attended the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2019, she received the Honorary University Fellowship by the University of Hong Kong.
Ms. Cecilia Ho
President, Lee Hysan Foundation

Ms. Tara Joseph
President, American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
Ms. Tara Joseph has been president of AmCham Hong Kong since February 2017. She is charged with overall responsibility for leadership and operations of one of the most influential NGO business organizations in the Asia Pacific, with a mission to foster commerce among the United States, Hong Kong and mainland China.
Tara has more than 15 years experience working in Asia, covering top economic and political stories as a foreign correspondent for Reuters. In her 22 years as journalist, she has reported on hundreds of the world’s most important and high profile news stories including Russia’s financial crisis, Myanmar’s emergence from virtual isolation, China’s rise on the world stage.
Tara is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, and Smith College in the United States. She has twice served as President of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong, one of the world’s largest press clubs.
Ms. Tara Joseph

Mr. Adam Kwok Kai-fai
Executive Director, Sun Hung Kai Properties
Mr. Kwok has been an Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties since December 2014. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Company. Mr. Kwok holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He worked in an international investment bank prior to joining the Group in November 2008, and has substantial experience in corporate finance. He was the project director taking charge of certain key residential and commercial projects of the Group in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. Since April 2013, he has taken up the overall responsibilities for the property business in Southern China.
In addition, Mr. Kwok is a vice-president of The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, a member of the Major Sports Events Committee, a member of board of directors of The Community Chest of Hong Kong, a member of the International Advisory Council of the Faculty of Business and Economics of The University of Hong Kong, an advisor of Our Hong Kong Foundation and a president of Hong Kong United Youth Association. He is also a standing committee member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a founder and deputy chairman of Hong Kong Guangdong Youth Association, a standing committee member of All-China Youth Federation, a member of the chairman’s committee of Friends of Hong Kong Association Development Foundation and a vice-chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation.
Mr. Adam Kwok Kai-fai
Executive Director, Sun Hung Kai Properties

Mr. Kwok-chuen Kwok, BBS, JP
Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance
Honorary Senior Research Fellow, HKU Business School
Mr. Kwok has been an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Business and Economics since November 2008 and is now the AsiaGlobal Fellows Program Director of the Asia Global Institute. He was the Government Economist of the Hong Kong SAR Government (2004 – 2008) and the Regional Chief Economist of Standard Chartered Bank for East Asia (1991 – 2004).
Mr. Kwok has served on numerous committees and boards in Hong Kong, covering areas such as town planning, land & housing, trade & industry, monetary system & financial services, regional economic cooperation, technology & research, building & construction, education & training, civil aviation, port and maritime services, transportation and environment. He is now a member of the Competition Commission, the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board, and the Aviation Development and Three Runway System Advisory Committee. He is an Independent Non-Executive Director of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. and of Sunevision Holdings Ltd.
Mr. Kwok was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 1999 and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2003 by the Hong Kong SAR government, in recognition of his long and dedicated public service. He also received a HKU Faculty of Social Sciences “40 Under 40 Distinguished Alumni Award” in 2007.
Mr. Kwok got his B Soc Sc degree from the University of Hong Kong, a M Phil (Econ) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a M Soc Sc in Public Administration from the University of Hong Kong.
Mr. Kwok-chuen Kwok, BBS, JP

Dr The Honourable Lam Ching-choi, SBS, JP
Dr. Lam Ching-choi is a specialist in paediatric and community medicine and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Haven of Hope Christian Service. Under his leadership, Haven of Hope Christian Service is one of the pioneers in the provision of holistic care for the elderly in Hong Kong.
He is a non-official member of the Executive Council of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He also serves as the Chairman of the Elderly Commission to advise the Government on the related policies. He is also the Supervisory Board Member of the HK Housing Society.
Dr. Lam has been honored by the HKSAR Government with the Justice of Peace in 2003 and Silver Bauhinia Star in 2019 respectively. In 2018, apart from receiving Honorary Fellowship from Lingnan University, he was also given the Ageing Asia Global Ageing Influencer Award (Special Recognitions) for his devotion to public services and his influence on policy-making for the global ageing trend.
Dr The Honourable Lam Ching-choi, SBS, JP
Chairman, Elderly Commission

Professor S.H. Paul Lau
Economics
Professor
Professor S. H. Paul Lau received B.Soc.Sc from The University of Hong Kong, M.Sc from the London School of Economics, and Ph.D. from the Stanford University. After teaching at the Texas A&M University, the Australian National University and the Hong Kong Baptist University, he joined the Faculty of Business and Economics at The University of Hong Kong in 2000.
Paul began his career with research interests in macroeconomics and growth. His work in providing microfoundations to staggered wage contracts widely observed in the United States and the United Kingdom has led him to develop a research interest in applied game theory. His interest in economic growth has helped him pursue research questions linking growth with time series econometrics. As a result, Paul has developed a unique research profile that combines macroeconomics and growth, applied game theory and time series econometrics.
In recent years, Paul has extended his research interest in economic growth to issues related to population aging, including effects of mortality decline on saving, retirement age and human capital investment. His work on game-theoretical analysis has also led him to collaborate with his co-authors to conduct experiments on social identity and cooperation in inter-group games.
Professor S.H. Paul Lau
Professor in Economics, HKU Business School

Dr. Law Chi-kwong, GBS, JP
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Dr. Law Chi-kwong was appointed as the Secretary for Labour and Welfare on 1 July 2017.
Between 1981 and 2017, Dr. Law taught in the Department of Social Work (later renamed Department of Social Work and Social Administration) of the University of Hong Kong. He was the Head of the Department from 1993 to 1997 and was associate professor before he joined the Government. Dr. Law was a Member of the Legislative Council from 1995 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2004. He also held a number of public offices, including Chairman of the Community Care Fund Task Force, member of the Commission on Poverty, member of the Commission on Strategic Development and member of the Statistics Advisory Board.
Dr. Law Chi-kwong, GBS, JP

Professor Frederick Ma Si-hang, GBS, JP
Honorary Professor, HKU Business School
Council Chairman, The Education University of Hong Kong
Professor Ma was born and educated in Hong Kong. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1973 majoring in economics and history. Since graduation, he had taken up different major positions of various local and overseas banks, financial institutions and major companies, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Royal Bank of Canada Dominion Securities, JP Morgan Chase, Kumagai Gumi (HK) Limited and Pacific Century Cyberworks Limited. He has rich experience in banking and financial sector. In 2002, he joined the Hong Kong Government as the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury and assumed the post of Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in 2007. He resigned from the Government in July 2008 due to medical reasons. In October 2008, he was appointed as an Honorary Professor of the School of Economics and Finance at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Ma was appointed as a Member of the International Advisory Council of China Investment Corporation in July, 2009. In December 2011, he was appointed as a Permanent Honourable President of Hong Kong Special Schools Council. In January 2013, He was appointed as a member of Global Advisory Council of the Bank of America. In August 2013, he was appointed as an Honorary Professor of the Faculty of Business Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In October 2014, he was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Social Sciences by Lingnan University. In October 2016, he was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Social Sciences by City University of Hong Kong. In April 2017, he was appointed as the Council Chairman of The Education University of Hong Kong. In March 2018, he was appointed as a member of the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers on Innovation and Strategic Development. In July 2019, he was appointed as a member of International Advisory Council of Investcorp. Currently, he is an Independent Non-Executive Director of FWD Group and Guangshen Railway Company Limited, a director of Husky Energy Inc and New Frontier Corporation.
Professor Frederick Ma Si-hang, GBS, JP
Honorary Professor, HKU Business School
Council Chairman, The Education University of Hong Kong

Professor Paul Romer
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2018
Professor Paul Romer, economist and policy entrepreneur, is a co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences and University Professor in Economics at NYU. He has spent his career at the intersection of economics, innovation, technology, and urbanization, working to speed up human progress.
Professor Romer previously served as the Chief Economist at the World Bank where he worked to advance the multilateral institution’s critical research function. He is the Founding Director of NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management, and the founder of the Charter Cities initiative. He has made numerous contributions to public policy, including writing an opinion for the United States Justice Department on the Microsoft Antitrust ruling, serving on the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Independent Academic Advisory Panel on University Policy, and consulting for a host of other governments and legislators on policy initiatives tied to education, urbanization, science, technology, and innovation.
Prior to coming to NYU, Professor Romer taught at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and in the Economics departments of the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester. He is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a non-resident scholar at Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, Ontario.
Professor Paul Romer
2018 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, University Professor in Economics of New York University

Professor Heiwai Tang
Economics
Professor
Associate Director, Asia Global Institute
Associate Director, Institute for China and Global Development
Associate Director, Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy
Heiwai Tang is Professor of Economics, as well as Associate Director of both the Institute for China and Global Development and the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Prior to joining HKU, he was tenured Associate Professor of International Economics at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University. He is also affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (U.S.), the Center of Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESIfo, Germany), the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Germany) and the Globalization and Economic Policy Center (U.K.) as a research fellow. He has been a consultant to the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, United Nations, and Asian Development Bank; and held visiting positions at the IMF, Stanford, MIT, Harvard. He is currently an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics and China Economic Review.
Tang received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT and undergraduate degree in mathematics from UCLA. His research interests span a wide range of theoretical and empirical topics in international trade, with a specific focus on production networks, global value chains, and China. His research has been published in leading journals in economics, including American Economic Review and Journal of International Economics. His research and opinions have been covered by BBC, Financial Times, New York Times, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, South China Morning Post, and various think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Professor Heiwai Tang
Professor in Economics, HKU Business School

Ms. Ada Y K Wong, JP
Solicitor | Supervisor, HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity
Chairperson, Ednovators | Chairperson, Good Lab Foundation
Chairperson, Make A Difference Institute
Ada has led a varied career as solicitor, creative educator, cultural entrepreneur, social innovator, civil society advocate and local politician. She has set up and run many non-profit institutions in the education, culture, creativity and social innovation fields in the past 20 years.
She founded Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture (HKICC) to advocate education innovation in 1998. Since 2006, HKICC founded the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, a unique senior secondary school dedicated to nurturing talents for arts and cultural innovation, and Ada is the school’s Supervisor.
In 2010, she co-founded the Make A Difference (MaD) initiative (www.mad.asia), a creativity for good platform for young changemakers in Asia. In the last ten years, MaD has undertaken projects at the intersection of creativity and urban/social challenges, incubated social startups, and has worked with cross sector changemakers to come up with bottom-up innovative solutions.
In 2012 Ada founded The Good Lab (www.goodlab.hk), a social innovation co-working space and hub, which later became a do tank and innovation consultancy to enable tri-sector collaborations for positive changes in society. Since 2016, in her capacity as a Director of Ednovators, Ada designed and led the Innopower Teacher Fellowship (jcinnopower.hk), a programme to build the innovation capacity of teachers in Hong Kong.
Ada was an elected member of the Urban Council and Wan Chai District Council between 1995 and 2008 with the last four years as Chairperson of the Wan Chai District Council. She received her BA (Hons) from Pomona College, California USA, and M Ed from the University of Hong Kong. She is an Honorary Fellow of Lingnan University, Hong Kong Education University and the Hong Kong Baptist University.
Ms. Ada Y K Wong, JP
Chairperson, Ednovators
Convenor of The Good Lab

Professor Y.C. Richard Wong, SBS, JP
Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Chair of Economics
Director, Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy
Philip Wong Kennedy Wong Professor in Political Economy
Professor Y.C. Richard WONG, SBS, JP received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1981. He was Visiting Scholar at the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago in 1985 and at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University in 1989. He joined the School in September 1992, served as Director (1997-2000) of the School of Business, Dean (2001-04) and Acting Dean (2004-07) of the Faculty of Business and Economics, and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (2004-2010, 2019-).
Professor Wong is founding Director of the Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research (1987-) and the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy (1999-); a recipient of the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for his work in advancing economic research on policy issues in Hong Kong; and principal investigator of the Area of Excellence Grant in economic policy and business strategy awarded by the University Grants Committee in 1999; Chairman of the Council of the Becker-Friedman Institute, University of Chicago (2015-).
He had served on a number of public bodies, including, the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee, Housing Authority, Industry and Technology Development Council, and University Grants Committee; and on the Central Policy Unit, Chief Executive’s Commission on Innovation and Technology, Commission on Strategic Development-Committee on Economic Development and Economic Cooperation with the Mainland, Council of Advisors on Innovation and Technology, Dental Council, Economic Advisory Committee, Hospital Authority, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (Hong Kong Committee), Land and Building Advisory Committee, Financial Secretary’s Services Promotion Strategy Group, Research Themes under the Research Endowment Fund Steering Committee, and Commission on Poverty Task Force on Social Security and Retirement Security.
Professor Wong was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star in 1999 by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in recognition of his contributions to education, housing, and industry and technology development. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2000.
He has been Chairman of the Judging Panel of the DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards since 2006.
His current research focuses are public housing in Hong Kong, inequality and intergenerational mobility in Hong Kong, early childhood intervention, the political economy of laissez faire in Hong Kong, and regional economic development in China.
His research on public housing studies the welfare effects of the government public housing strategy and recommends government to correct capital market imperfections in the mortgage loans market to help the public to purchase publicly provided for sale units. It also recommends the sale of existing public rental units to the sitting tenant and new financial arrangements for the unpaid premium on existing publicly provided for sale flats. The policy changes aims to improve efficiency and equity, restore the broken housing ladder, and promote social harmony and stability.
He is studying the political economy for the economic success in Hong Kong during the post-war period focusing on the policy of positive non-interventionism. It includes a detailed analysis of all major facets of the Hong Kong economy and society. Structural transformations of Hong Kong’s economy and the new division of labour have given rise to numerous highly vocal special interest groups. The research is devoted to the articulation of the challenges and opportunities presented by the opening of China, the integration of Hong Kong with China under one-country two-system, the rising competition from regional neighbours amidst rapid structural transformation of the Hong Kong economy, and the globalization of world markets, with special emphasis on social mobility and intergenerational inequality.
Professor Wong has led pioneering efforts in studying regional economic development in the Pearl River Delta and Yangzi River Delta regions following China’s economic transformation. His research focused on the critical role of Hong Kong in regional and national economic development from the perspective of institutional change and innovation.
He previously wrote a column for the Hong Kong Economic Journal and South China Morning Post. He maintains a blog at http://www.wangyujian.com.
Professor Y.C. Richard Wong, SBS, JP
Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy, Chair Professor of Economics, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, HKU

Mr. Stephen Wong
Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy Institute of Our Hong Kong Foundation
Mr. Stephen Wong received a B.A. Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago, Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.A. Degree in East Asian Studies (Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies) from Yale University. Since then, he worked for a number of global financial institutions, including as an Executive Director in UBS (London) and a Managing Director at RBS. Mr. Wong joined Our Hong Kong Foundation as Senior Consultant in May 2015, and was appointed Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy in November of the same year. He is now Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy Institute.
Mr. Wong’s public service includes various advisory roles appointed by the Hong Kong Government, including Committee Member of the Financial Services Development Council, Sub-committee Co-opt Member of the Sustainable Development Council, and Member of Investment Committee of the Beat Drugs Fund. Mr. Wong is also active in community service. He is Chairman of the Clean Air Network and Vice Chairman of the Budget and Allocation Committee of the Community Chest. Mr. Wong is also a part-time Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the Master of Social Science in Global Political Economy, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Hong Kong University SPACE for the Institute for China Business.
Mr. Stephen Wong
Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy Institute of Our Hong Kong Foundation

Ms. Anna Wu Hung-yuk, GBS, JP
Founding Chairperson of the Competition Commission
Ms. Anna Wu is a lawyer in Hong Kong admitted to the Law Society’s Roll of Honour. She is an honorary fellow and honorary professor of the University of Hong Kong and is associated with the University Centers for Comparative and Public Law, Law and Technology and Medical Ethics and Law. She is a member of the Advisory Panel for the Cyberport Management Company of the Hong Kong government set up to develop an innovative digital hub for the city. She is also a global advisor of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Up until the end of April 2020, Anna served as the founding chair of the Competition Commission of Hong Kong dealing with enforcement of anti-trust laws in the city. She stepped down as a member of the Executive Council on 1 July 2017 having served since January 2009. She was a member of the Legislative Council and initiated the Equal Opportunities Bill, the first private member’s bill covering a whole area of policy. She previously chaired the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Consumer Council and the Operations Review Committee of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Ms. Wu was also a member of the Law Reform Commission and the Hospital Authority and a Director of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited and the Securities and Futures Commission.
Ms. Anna Wu Hung-yuk, GBS, JP
Founding Chairperson of the Competition Commission

Mr. Edward Yau Tang-wah, GBS, JP
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
Mr. Yau assumed the post of the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development on July 1, 2017. His portfolio covers policy areas from trade, commerce to telecommunications and broadcasting, and from promotion of creative industries, intellectual property and consumer protection to boosting inward investment and tourism development.
Mr. Yau has his full career in the public service. Before taking up the current post, Mr. Yau was the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office from 2012 to 2017, assisting the Chief Executive in formulating policies and setting policy goals and priorities. He was the Secretary for the Environment from 2007 to 2012, overseeing policies on environmental protection, energy, nature conservation and sustainable development.
Mr. Yau started his civil service career as an Administrative Officer in 1981. During his long service as a civil servant, he held various positions, including Director of Information Services, Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower, Deputy Director-General of Trade and Industry as well as Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC, USA.
Mr. Yau graduated from the University of Hong Kong. He received further education at Oxford University and at Harvard University.
Mr. Edward Yau Tang-wah, GBS, JP

Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab
Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab
Moderators

Professor Hongbin Cai
Dean
Chair of Economics
Professor Hongbin Cai is the Dean of the HKU Business School and Chair of Economics. He received his B.A. in Mathematics from Wuhan University in 1988, his M.A. in Economics from Peking University in 1991, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1997.
From 1997 to 2005, he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. From December 2010 to January 2017, he served as Dean of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He is a National Chang Jiang Scholar (awarded by Ministry of Education of China) and a National Outstanding Young Researcher (awarded by National Science Foundation of China). Professor Cai has published many academic papers in top international journals in economics and finance, in a wide range of areas including game theory, Chinese economy, industrial organization and corporate finance.
Professor Cai was elected as a Fellow of the Econometric Society. He was a member of the National People’s Congress, and a member of the Central Committee of China Democratic League and Vice Chairman of its Committee of Economic Affairs. He was the founding president of The Chinese Finance Association (TCFA, overseas). He serves as an Independent Director on the boards of CCB International (Holdings) Limited, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, and Ping An Bank Company Limited.
Professor Hongbin Cai
Chair Professor of Economics, Dean of HKU Business School

Dr. Stephen Ching
Economics
Associate Professor
Dr. Stephen Ching did his undergraduate and master in economics at The University of Hong Kong; PhD at the University of Rochester, where he was awarded with the Conibear Prize. He left the City University of Hong Kong and returned to his alma mater in 2002.
His research is related to different areas in economics, which include game theory, mechanism design, industrial organization, and international economics. He has published in the Economics Letters, International Journal of Game Theory, Journal of Economic Theory, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Review of International Economics, and Social Choice and Welfare. His papers have also appeared in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Taxation and Pacific Economic Review, as a result of invited submissions.
His research activities extend outside the academia. He is the first Hong Kong academic appointed as a research fellow by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He was the senior consultant of the project, An Extended Study of the Key Economic Characteristics of Indirect Taxes in Hong Kong, commissioned by the Government of the HKSAR. He was also appointed as consultants by the Hong Kong Coalition of Service Industries, Pacific Basin Economic Council, and the former Hongkong Telecom.
He is the only economic professor in Hong Kong who is a CFA charterholder. He also holds the title of Financial Risk Manager (FRM). He has been invited to give professional workshops at the Central University of Finance of Economics, Renmin University, Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Dr. Stephen Ching
Associate Professor in Economics, HKU Business School

Dr. Stephen Y Chiu
Associate Professor in Economics, HKU Business School
Dr. Stephen Y Chiu received his undergraduate education in Physics at the Hong Kong Baptist College, and graduate education in Economics at the Pennsylvania State University, where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1995. He had since taught at The Chinese University of Hong Kong until he joined The University of Hong Kong in 2002. He has been the principal investigator of seven competitive earmarked grants, and was a Research Fellow in the Hong Kong Institute of Monetary Research during the summer of 2001.
Steve is a theorist and has written papers in different areas of Economics. He likes models in which decision makers have non-negligible effects on the environment where they situate. He has published a few papers on bargaining. In one paper, the widely used solution concept Shapley value is implemented as the unique outcome in a non-cooperative game under the least restrictive conditions. Two other papers clear up the profession’s confusion on two concepts in bargaining theory — threat point and outside option, providing important insights into the implications of the now influential property rights approach of firm theory. He has also written papers on the micro-foundations of currency crisis, examining the issue of multiple equilibria in more realistic models of currency attacks. More recently, he has worked on problems such as contract design, college admissions, and demography and political economy of reform, motivated by a contrast between China and Russia in their demography and reform experience.
Dr. Stephen Y Chiu
Associate Professor in Economics, HKU Business School

Professor Wing Suen
Economics
Chair of Economics
Henry G Leong Professor in Economics
Professor Wing Suen was educated at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Washington. After doing post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago, he returned to his alma mater in 1989 and is now Chair of Economics at the School of Economics and Finance. He had also held research or teaching positions at Simon Fraser University, Harvard University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Wing’s research interests center around applied microeconomic theory. He has done some work on efficiency and early contracting in two-sided matching markets. One of his current research areas looks at the transmission of information across individuals with divergent beliefs and motives. An application that is close to the heart of the academician is the issue of grade inflation in higher education. He argues that the college professor, in playing the dual role of advocate and judge for his students, is trapped into an inefficient equilibrium in which grades are too high.
Another example of this line of work explores the structure of social networks. Individuals with opposing viewpoints tend to believe that the other party is uninformed or misinformed. If people form social ties in order to obtain more information, they will rationally choose to be associated with like-minded peers. Will there be an equilibrium in which people with different viewpoints are segregated from one another? What are the consequences of this group formation process for the evolution of social beliefs?
Wing also maintains an interest in the labor market of Hong Kong. He is an associate editor of the Pacific Economic Review and is program leader of the Human Resources Research Program of the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy. His current work in this area focuses on the effects of public housing on internal migration, travel-to-work patterns, and labor supply decisions.
Professor Wing Suen
Chair Professor of Economics, HKU Business School

Professor Zhigang Tao
Economics
Management and Strategy
Associate Dean (Human Resources)
HSBC Professor in Global Economy and Business Strategy
Director, Institute for China & Global Development
Acting Director, Asia Case Research Centre
Professor Zhigang Tao is HSBC Professor in Global Economy and Business Strategy and the director of the Institute for China and Global Development, The University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining The University of Hong Kong in 1998, he taught at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 1992 to 1998. Professor Tao received his B.Sc. in management science from Fudan University in 1986, and PhD in economics from Princeton University in 1992.
Professor Tao is senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s National Centre of Economic Research, senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for China in the World Economy, and visiting professor at Fudan University School of Management. He is also co-director of the Asia Competitiveness Program of Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy.
Professor Tao’s research interests are China business and economics, and economics of organizations and strategy. He has published in various economics and management journals such as American Economic Review, International Economic Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of International Economics, Management International Review, and Rand Journal of Economics. He has also written books about the competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industries, and China’s Yangtze River Delta.
Professor Zhigang Tao
HSBC Professor in Global Economy and Business Strategy, HKU Business School

Dr. Maurice K.S. Tse, JP
Finance
BEcon & BEcon&Fin Programme Director
Principal Lecturer
Dr. Maurice Tse received a Ph.D. in Finance from Michigan State University. In 1988, when still a Ph.D. candidate, he won the All-University-Excellence in Teaching Award as a graduate course instructor. Maurice joined the School of Business at Indiana University in 1989. In 1991, he also obtained a professional qualification as an Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA). Maurice’s teaching has mainly been concerned with telling students how to get rich slowly but surely instead of getting rich fast.
Maurice has also been involved in teaching and consulting services to professional institutions. Since 1995, he has been an external assessor for the University Grants Committee. In 1996, while on staff at HKUST, Maurice taught the Professional Course for Equity Options Practitioners and the Diploma Course in Derivatives and Risk Management for the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. In 1993 and 1994, he served on one of the Examination Committees in the Society of Actuaries. In 1991, he prepared the 1991 Housing Affordability Report for the Housing Finance Authority, State of Indiana, USA, to assist the state in complying with Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations.
Maurice has wide research interests, which include the effects of government regulations on the volatility and the wealth transfer in financial markets, asset pricing, corporate finance, and risk management. His current research focuses on the valuation of hybrid mortgage, signaling and corporate acquisitions, market structure and return volatility in Hong Kong, the commercial real estate market adjustment process, and the U.S. and Japanese Currency and Stock Market Responses to Japanese Merchandise Balance of Trade Announcements.
Dr. Maurice K.S. Tse, JP
Principal Lecturer in Finance, HKU Business School

Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab
Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab

Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab
Ms. Ada Wong
Convenor of The Good Lab
Sequence of speakers is in alphabetical order of surname.