Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has reappointed Clara Chan Ka-chai as chief executive of the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) for a three-year term effective October 9, citing her success in deploying patient capital to mobilize partners globally.
Paul Chan, who also chairs the HKIC board, said that since becoming the corporation's inaugural chief executive in 2023, Clara Chan has led the team in attracting capital and partners from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and international markets to drive the international financial center's strategic industry development.
“Every Hong Kong dollar invested by the HKIC has attracted more than eight Hong Kong dollars in international long- term market capital. Approximately 70 percent of its portfolio companies based in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland have established or are expanding their overseas operations,” Paul Chan noted.
To date, the HKIC has invested in over 200 companies. Of these, 11 portfolio companies are already listed in Hong Kong, while more than 30 have submitted or plan to submit listing applications in Hong Kong this year, Paul Chan said.
Paul Chan said he looks forward to Clara Chan’s continued contribution to the growth of the city’s financial sector, the innovation and technology sector, and emerging industries, while supporting the development of the Northern Metropolis and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Clara Chan said HKIC will adopt a longer-term perspective in capital deployment, serving as a pivotal conduit linking capital and industry, championing the growth of strategic industries and mobilizing global resources, based on the principles of development and security under Hong Kong’s One Country, Two Systems framework.
“Looking ahead, my team and I will continue to harness the power of patient capital to support Hong Kong’s long-term development, foster New Quality Productive Forces and anchor new engines for Hong Kong’s economic growth, proactively aligning with the National 15th Five-Year Plan and Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan,” she noted.
Before Clara Chan’s role at the HKIC, she spearheaded the Exchange Fund's private markets team and drove Hong Kong's financial infrastructure and payment systems development at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. She also served in SAR policy roles earlier as a barrister admitted by the High Court of Hong Kong.
