HKICPA participates in the Asian Financial Forum 2025: Explores new growth engines in global sustainability

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 January 2025 – The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) is participating in the two-day “Asian Financial Forum 2025” from today (13 January to 14 January), to promote Hong Kong’s sustainable development and the implementation of the HKFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (HKFRS SDS). At the Forum, the HKICPA President Edward Au shared the importance of HKFRS SDS, and spoke on assisting enterprises in implementing the standards. In addition, HKICPA set up a booth at the venue to showcase the Institute’s journey in setting HKFRS SDS, and took part in the InnoVenture Salon to provide one-on-one consultations to start-ups in the area of sustainability.

The HKICPA President Edward Au participated in the Asian Financial Forum 2025 as a panellist in a panel discussion titled Setting Global Milestone in Sustainability. He was joined by other guest speakers to explore ways for companies and market participants to better understand the best practices, challenges, and opportunities for advancing sustainability initiatives globally.

Co-organized by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the two-day “Asian Financial Forum 2025” commenced today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Themed “Powering the Next Growth Engine”, the Forum attracted more than 3,600 leading figures from finance and business to participate. The event brought together over 100 influential leaders from government, finance, and business communities from all over the world for ground-breaking discussions and exchange of insights on the global economy from an Asian perspective.

The HKICPA President Edward Au (left two) participated in the Asian Financial Forum 2025 as a panellist in a panel discussion titled Setting Global Milestone in Sustainability. He was joined by other guest speakers to explore ways for companies and market participants to better understand the best practices, challenges, and opportunities for advancing sustainability initiatives globally.

The HKICPA President Edward Au said, “The Asian Financial Forum brings together leaders from political and business communities and financial experts worldwide, providing an ideal platform for the HKICPA to showcase its efforts in promoting sustainable disclosure standards in Hong Kong and to gain an understanding on the best practices in sustainability reporting across regions. As the sustainability reporting standard setter of Hong Kong, the HKICPA is committed to creating an enabling environment for the successful implementation of the HKFRS SDS and to contribute towards the development of a comprehensive sustainability disclosure ecosystem in Hong Kong to embrace new growth opportunities.”

The HKICPA published HKFRS SDS in December last year, which are fully aligned with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (ISSB Standards), with an effective date of 1 August 2025. President Edward Au today participated in the panel discussion titled “Setting Global Milestone in Sustainability”, under the Global Spectrum seminar series. He was joined by Janey Lai, CEO of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council, Sue Lloyd, Vice Chair of International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and Justin Wu, Managing Director, Head of Climate Change Asia Pacific, Global Sustainability, HSBC. The panel explored ways for companies and market participants to better understand the best practices, challenges, and opportunities for advancing sustainability initiatives globally. It also underscored the significance of aligning Hong Kong’s sustainability disclosure requirements with ISSB standards, marking a crucial milestone in the development of efficient and resilient capital markets both in Hong Kong and globally.

In the panel discussion, Edward Au stated, “Hong Kong is among the first jurisdictions worldwide to align local sustainability disclosure standards with the international standards, which is critical to maintaining and enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness among global capital markets. The HKFRS SDS, published by the HKICPA and fully aligned with the ISSB Standards, provide a global baseline for sustainability-related financial disclosures, enabling companies to present more consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information to investors.”

He continued, “The accounting profession in Hong Kong is well-experienced in financial reporting, auditing, internal control and risk management. The profession is thus more than capable of providing high quality sustainability reporting and assurance services. Moving forward, the HKICPA is committed to building capacity for the profession and stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the HKFRS SDS and to solidify Hong Kong’s status as a leading international financial centre and a green and sustainable finance hub.”

The HKICPA set up a booth at the venue to present the development journey of HKFRS SDS, the Institute’s efforts in standard setting and capacity building, and other related topics. Participants’ enquiries about the HKICPA’s role in sustainability development were addressed, enhancing their understanding of sustainability disclosures in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the HKICPA also supported the Forum’s InnoVenture Salon. Cyrus Cheung, the Chair of the Sustainability Committee of the HKICPA, met with start-ups to provide one-on-one consultations to address their concerns related to sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) along their entrepreneurial journey.

For details of Asian Financial Forum 2025, please visit website:

https://www.asianfinancialforum.com/conference/aff/en

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About HKICPA

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“HKICPA”) is the statutory body established by the Professional Accountants Ordinance responsible for the professional training and development of certified public accountants in Hong Kong. The Institute is also a standard setter of the local accounting industry. The Institute has about 48,000 members and about 12,000 registered students.

Our qualification programme assures the quality of entry into the profession, and we promulgate financial reporting, auditing, ethical and sustainability disclosure standards that safeguard Hong Kong’s leadership as an international financial centre.

The CPA designation is a top qualification recognized globally. The Institute is a member of and actively contributes to the work of the Global Accounting Alliance and International Federation of Accountants.