Speech by the Chief Executive Officer at HSBC, Cathay Pacific, and EcoCeres Sustainable Aviation Fuel Partnership Launch Ceremony (19 November 2024)

Secretary Lam, Matti, Luanne, Ronald, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to join you in celebrating this important day, on which we witness EcoCeres in establishing its cross-sectoral and strategic partnership on SAF, which is the short form of sustainable aviation fuel, in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and HSBC.  EcoCeres is an important strategic partner in the HKIC ecosystem.  It is also one of the Green Technology unicorns born and raised in Hong Kong.  We are very pleased to note not only its strong commitment but also concrete actions to support the future development of Hong Kong, as well as its increasingly important role as a trailblazer on the global stage on SAF development and usage.

The HKIC’s Role – Creating Multi-Dimensional Synergies for Hong Kong’s Future

Let me recap the HKIC’s mandate and role.   As Patient Capital, the HKIC carries with us a dual mandate, which is to seek reasonable financial return over the medium to long term, and more importantly, to enhance the long-term competitiveness and economic vitality of Hong Kong by supporting the development of innovation and technology, as well as strategic industries.  As announced before, we are proactively advancing our direct and co-investments relating to 3 key themes, namely Hard & Core Technology, Biotech, and New Energy/Green Technology.

Everything that the HKIC does has to be put in the context of the aspirations and needs for Hong Kong’s future development.  Set up by the Chief Executive in his 2022 Policy Address, we are a key player in fostering collaboration and curating synergy among the HKSAR Government, industry, academia, research and investment sectors.  In fact, the partnership announced today is a vivid case of the HKIC’s approach.  Let me illustrate by way of the concept of “Tri-Synergy”.

“Tri-Synergy”

Synergy among Strategic Sectors

As could be seen in this case, the first part of “Tri-Synergy” is about creating synergy among multiple strategic sectors for the future development of Hong Kong.  I echo Secretary Lam’s speech just now, where he talked about Hong Kong’s role as an international aviation hub in line with the 14th Five Year Plan.  At the same time, the HKIC sees this case as a classic example of bringing together cross-sectoral and mutually beneficial development involving New Energy/Green Technology, as well as Green and Sustainable Finance.  This is in alignment with what the Financial Secretary has mentioned in his Budget Speeches to support Hong Kong’s development as an international green technology and finance centre.

In fact, we see the beauty and need to implement the aforesaid mode of multi-dimensional and mutually reinforcing development, because only by which we could construct an ecosystem which is self-sustaining and ever-growing, powered by a positive feedback loop.  The vision and path are clear - green technology research, development and application could be accelerated with good quantity and quality of capital channelled by the financial market; and the resultant technological advancement could in turn bring benefits back to the development of the financial system by increasing the diversity of the relevant range of products and growth potential.

The present case demonstrates how the HKIC and our strategic partners collectively curate and materialise such collaboration and partnership.   This is in line with the HKIC’s role as Patient Capital to contribute to the nurturing of New Quality Productive Forces.

Synergy among Stakeholders

The second part of “Tri-Synergy” is about synergy among stakeholders with different background.  The benefits that SAF could bring are easy to understand, but the underlying technologies of SAF are really complicated that only the very handful and top quality teams around the globe could master and advance, achieving the desired balance among cost, effectiveness and safety.

With that in mind, you could see how meaningful the partnership announced today is.  The partnership involves 3 parties.  All of them are leaders in their respective industries.  EcoCeres is the HKIC’s strategic partner, and a home-grown and world renowned SAF producer.  Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong.  By using SAF, it could reduce its life-cycle carbon emissions from flights, pioneering the transition to sustainable aviation.  HSBC is a reputable financial institution, which is supportive of this key innovation for achieving long-term decarbonisation of air travel.

Synergy between Hong Kong and Rest of World

The last part of “Tri-Synergy” is about furthering the synergy between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.  I learnt from the EcoCeres team that the idea of developing innovative solutions to convert low-value sustainable feedstock and biomass waste into high-value products was first incubated in 2008.  Then after 13 years of hard work, EcoCeres was incorporated in 2021.  

Over the years, the company has made substantial progress on multiple areas including prolonging the use of waste oil and feedstock into renewable fuels, and contributing to new energy transport transformation.  All these tangible outcomes brought not only economic benefits but also social good.  Currently, EcoCeres is a world renowned name regarding SAF and also a core member of World Economic Forum Airport of Tomorrow initiative.  I am sure more good news will come regarding EcoCeres’ international business development in the future, bringing Hong Kong wisdom to further benefit the world.  Such international platform also helps attract global talents and industry veterans like Matti to settle in Hong Kong.

Closing

Today only presents a snapshot on what is possible about SAF and the surrounding developments in Hong Kong.  If SAF technology is considered as a seed, you could see today that it had built solid roots in Hong Kong.  I am confident that it is going to bear many flowers and fruits in the years to come.  As Patient Capital, the HKIC will continue to play our role along this journey, and look forward to joining hands with other stakeholders across sectors in and beyond Hong Kong.

Last but not least and to close, please allow me to express our congratulations on EcoCeres, HSBC and Cathay Pacific again.  Look forward to witnessing this partnership to grow from strength to strength.