Festival of Innovation focuses on Play

HONG KONG – On Thursday night Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin along with Rt. Hon, Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade and Alun Cairns, Secretary of State for Wales were in attendance at a dinner co-hosted by British Consul General, Hong Kong Mr. Andrew Heyn, and the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Mr. Mark Greenberg.

The Premier used the opportunity to continue talking about Brand Cayman to United Kingdom officials and discuss opportunities for a greater partnership between the UK and the Cayman Islands.

“Play” was the theme for Friday at The GREAT Festival of Innovation. Hon. Joseph Hew, Minister of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, took part in a panel that discussed the Future of Luxury.

On the panel with Minister Hew were Andre Fu, AFSO Founder, Roksanda Llincic, ROKSANDA, Fashion Designer, Angie Lau, Li Ka Shing Foundation and Horizons Ventures, Hannah Whyte, British Airways Global Brand Strategy Manager and Elaine Yan Ling Ng, Fabrick Lab Founder

Minister Hew said, “It was a pleasure to be part of a panel with such creative and talented people and to have the opportunity to tell the Caymankind story on a world stage.”

On Thursday morning Mr. McLaughlin; Mr. Hew; Deputy Chief Officer Tamara Ebanks; Chief Officer Dax Basdeo; Wil Pineau, CEO Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce; and Jude Scott, CEO Cayman Finance; met with representatives from Invest Hong Kong to discuss matters of common interest and to explore ways to collaborate.

Hon. Tara Rivers, Minister for Financial Services, and Mr. Basdeo also attended a meeting with Private Equity and Venture Capital firms who have significant business relationships in Cayman.

Minister Rivers said, “It was very encouraging to hear first-hand from important clients of our jurisdiction, and to discuss opportunities to further strengthen our leadership position. There was a clear understanding of the advantages of Cayman’s tax neutrality in raising capital for major infrastructure projects, pension funds and social development projects, as well as its strong regulatory regime that supports sound business in a commercially friendly manner. There were several helpful suggestions on how to engage with Chinese officials to further this understanding at all levels of Government.”

The GREAT Festival continues on Saturday. However, Mr. McLaughlin and the rest of the delegation will travel back to Cayman in readiness to welcome the new Governor, Mr. Anwar Choudhury on Monday.

Mr. McLaughlin said, “The attendance of the Cayman delegation at the GREAT Festival in Hong Kong has been a resounding success. We’ve been able to have key meetings with Hong Kong based business people as well as with officials of Her Majesty’s Government. Equally important, my Ministers along with others in the delegation have been able to very ably showcase financial services, healthcare and luxury tourism to the audiences in attendance.”

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Festival of Innovation continues

HONG KONG –The GREAT Festival of Innovation continued on Thursday with the theme “Live”.

On Thursday evening Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin held a bilateral meeting with Dr. Liam Fox, UK Secretary of State for International Trade, where several important matters regarding trade and Cayman’s relationship with the UK, were discussed. The meeting ended with an agreement to continue the conversation about creating mutually beneficial closer trade ties.

Following the bilateral meeting both Premier McLaughlin and Dr. Fox attended a Cayman Islands Financial Services reception at the JW Marriott for more than 200 guests with connections to Hong Kong’s financial services sector. The reception was hosted by the Ministry of Financial Services and Minister Tara Rivers reminded guests of Cayman’s key role in the free flow of capital, and that the majority of companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange are Cayman entities.

Minister Rivers said, “This was a great opportunity to directly address attendees about why the Cayman Islands is and should continue to be the jurisdiction of choice in facilitating business here in Hong Kong and mainland China. In attendance was a good representation of the service providers who promote Cayman as well as their clients who frequently use Cayman structures. The feedback we received was very positive, and they were very appreciative of the opportunity to interact and hear directly from the Government. This is an important region for us as business opportunities are increasing; our presence here helped to underscore our commitment to maintain Cayman’s dominant position in Asian markets.”

Earlier in the day Dr. Devi Shetty from Health City Cayman Islands was a guest speaker as well as a participant on a panel discussion on the topic “Living Longer, Living Better” on the second day of the GREAT Festival at the Asian Society in Hong Kong.

He talked about his vision of affordable healthcare for everyone and how technology is changing the way healthcare is delivered, improving patient outcomes and making healthcare more affordable.

Dr. Shetty noted that Health City Cayman Islands was built with a focus on Medical Tourism but has also shown great potential to transform healthcare not only in the Cayman Islands, but across the Caribbean and Latin America.

“This GREAT Festival of innovation in Hong Kong is giving us the opportunity to showcase what we are doing in the Cayman Islands to innovate healthcare,” he said.

He was joined on stage for the panel discussion by Dr. Steven Fang, CEO and Co-Founder Invitrocue Ltd and Justin Howden, Global Head of Government Affairs and Industry Development, H&H Group (Swiss Wellness).

“Globally we are spending trillions of dollars on healthcare annually but still hundreds of millions of people do not have access to affordable quality healthcare,” said Dr. Shetty.

Dr. Shetty is confident the world can dramatically increase the number of people who can access affordable healthcare by using innovative technology without increasing the overall amount spent on healthcare.

Hon. Dwayne Seymour, Cayman’s Minister for Health said, “I’m excited that we have been able to showcase to the attendees at this conference the innovations that are being used in healthcare especially in Cayman. The people here are excited to see what Dr. Shetty and his partners are achieving in Cayman. But what is also important to me are the opportunities being created for young Caymanians to have more career options in the medical field. Dr. Shetty’s plans to build a medical school as part of the Health City campus will aid this cause greatly”

The GREAT Festival continues on Friday with the focus on “Play”. Consumers are becoming curators, choosing immersive experiences and brands that connect on an emotional level. Wellbeing, adventure travel and luxury goods are no longer just for the elite, and sustainability is becoming vital.

Hon. Minister Joseph Hew, Minister for Commerce, will participate in a panel discussion titled “The Future of Luxury”. The Festival agenda noted that luxury is no longer exclusively defined by the brands people buy or the ones they aspire to afford in the future. Increasingly, luxury is about the things people experience.

Minister Hew and his fellow panelists will examine the factors that are shaping this new definition of luxury, identify the forces driving it forward and explore what the experience of luxury will become for consumers in the future.