Where East Still Meets West
AMTD has embarked on a new active role in the cultural sphere with L’OFFICIEL, the venerable centennial fashion media house based in Paris.
Multiple troubling headlines of 2022 made the world seemed like it is breaking apart - from wars to disruption of peace and destroying lives and from geopolitical tensions to economic uncertainties… As troubling as they may be, these developments show the importance of having connectors present to bridge the East and the West, to bring together the best of diverse worlds in their combined strengths, to embrace an open diversity to accommodate differences and appreciate commonalities. We need these connections now more than ever to tackle the world’s biggest problems such as pandemics, climate change, food security, etc.
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most important connecting hubs as it is uniquely positioned to link China with ASEAN, the rest of Asia and the West. This is true in terms of flows connecting capital markets and treasury, trade and logistics, art and culture etc. AMTD Group epitomizes this centrality, as a diversified conglomerate rooted in Hong Kong, with subsidiaries listed in New York and Singapore. It serves clients with its best solutions in major markets of the world.
Moreover, AMTD has embarked on a new collaboration in the cultural sphere with L’OFFICIEL, the venerable fashion media house based in Paris with 100 years of uninterrupted history.
Culture may feel like a “soft” aspect of business, but it is indeed the most powerful connector and linking cross-cultural values and beliefs across communities. Culture enables our communities to see each other not just as numbers on a computer screen, but as fellow human beings. It enables removing the barriers between the “otherness."
Hong Kong has always been and, continues to be, a city where “East meets West," becoming even stronger today. Its stock exchange is where mainland China’s great companies go for public listing, where Italy’s Prada listed, where France’s L’Occitane listed, and where Chinese corporations list green bonds to further the national mission to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. Through various “Connect” schemes, Hong Kong is the gateway for global capital to access Chinese domestic securities and wealth products.
Hong Kong is the largest market for offshore RMB, which is playing an increasing role in financing global trade. It has become the center of digitalization drives, including experiments for central-bank digital-currency (CBDC) for cross-border payments. The city is both international, with a legal system based on common law, and within the People’s Republic of China, with extensive business, family and cultural links to Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.
AMTD has built itself as a “super-connector," with an ecosystem that reflects Hong Kong’s international nature, referred to as the AMTD SpiderNet. It allows a collaboration of entrepreneurs, businesses and industry associations that create value larger than the sum of its parts.
As part of its ongoing commitment to the cultural exchange and connectivity of Hong Kong, AMTD has backed “Le French May," a longstanding annual celebration of French culture in Hong Kong. Furthermore, under the leadership of Chairman Calvin Choi, AMTD is now becoming a cultural player in its own right.
Fashion and art have always been linked to generous support and patronage, from the Florence of the Medicis to post-war New York. The rise of Asian prosperity has enhanced the cultural power of the Pacific Rim, enriching the global culture. In this environment, cities with an “East-meets-West” cultural adaptability become entrenched capital cities. AMTD, with L’OFFICIEL, is now at the heart of this global trend. As a conglomerate, AMTD also has under its belt the vital element of finance services and digital platform, which are the necessary elements to bring culture into the metaverse.
The French government has recognized AMTD and L’OFFICIEL’s unique role in promoting French culture and lifestyle in Asia. It has appointed Calvin Choi, Global Chairman of L’OFFICIEL, and Marie-José Jalou, the founding family member of L’OFFICIEL, as Chevaliers des Arts and des Lettres.
AMTD and L’OFFICIEL have begun co-creating exhibitions that link artists from East and West and promote cultural exchange. For example, they showcased Jay Chou, the King of Mandopop, and a collector and curator, in Singapore in 2022.
Do expect to see some similar exciting partnerships continue in this vein at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.
AMTD Group is a longstanding global strategic partner associate of WEF. In previous years, it has hosted events which showcased important country themes such as the Greater Bay Area, an on-going strategy promoted by the Chinese government to further integrate Hong Kong, Macau, and the nine cities of neighboring Guangdong Province into a super-region.
This year, AMTD will introduce L’OFFICIEL Coffee at Davos, a space blending the best of French lifestyle, Asian art, culture and gastronomy.
The tumultuous headlines from 2022 may not be going away, but they are not the only story. Globalization is changing but it is here to stay. Being global used to refer to manufacturing. Today, it is more about services, including e-commerce, capital flows, and the borderless possibilities of digital platforms. Art and culture are at the forefront of this new phase of globalization. Hong Kong, as a cultural hybrid, is the lynchpin of this twenty-first century connectivity, and AMTD Group is one of the homegrown players well positioned to move as a beacon in this direction.
