HK Monetary Authority launches IFFO

Post Date : July 5, 2016 | 7:01 am

HONG KONG, July 4 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) Monday launched a the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office (IFFO) to promote the development of Hong Kong as an infrastructure financing hub.

As an integral part of the HKMA, IFFO’s mission is to facilitate infrastructure investments and their financing by working with a cluster of key stakeholders.

The functions of IFFO include: providing a platform for information exchange and experience sharing; building capacity and knowledge on infrastructure investments and financing; promoting market and product development; and facilitating infrastructure investment and financing flows.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, John Tsang, Hong Kong’s financial secretary, said that with its unparalleled ties with the mainland and ready access to Asian markets, as well as its wide-ranging prowess as the regional international financial center, he believed no economy is better placed than Hong Kong to serve as the center for fundraising, for project financing and asset management for infrastructure projects.

Norman Chan, chief executive of HKMA, said that as the premier international financial center in Asian and the global hub for offshore RMB business, Hong Kong is uniquely well positioned to play a crucial role in facilitating the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

There are more than 40 partners of IFFO which include multilateral development banks and agencies, public sector investors, project developers and operators, commercial banks, asset managers and professional service firms from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and overseas.

On the same day, the HKMA also signed two memorandums of understanding respectively with the International Finance Corporation and Global Infrastructure Hub to strengthen cooperation, capacity-building and facilitation of infrastructure financing transactions.

The inaugural public event of IFFO will be a high-level conference, co-organized with the Boao Forum for Asia, to be held on July 5 in Hong Kong.