HSBC summit explores global opportunities and challenges

The inaugural HSBC Global Investment Summit brought together industry experts, thought leaders and change makers from across the world to discuss the trends and new networks shaping the global economy.

The opportunities and challenges presented by geopolitics, technology and the net zero transition were just some of the topics explored by our client delegates at April’s three-day event in Hong Kong.

Themed New Networks Connecting the Global Economy, the summit was an opportunity to hear first hand from more than 70 speakers, many of whom are at the forefront of change in their respective industries.

Re-globalisation rather than deglobalisation was central to discussions, with our Group Chief Executive, Noel Quinn, sharing his thoughts on how the trend goes well beyond geopolitics to how technology, innovation and economic policy are reshaping industries and supply chains.

The critical need for international collaboration to drive forward the next phase of global economic development was a constant theme.

“We have a huge opportunity if we collaborate and work together to facilitate the next phase of economic development that has breakthroughs in both healthcare and life sciences, breakthroughs in efficiency, and breakthroughs in sustainability,“ Noel said.

“And in my 37 years with HSBC, I’ve never faced a more interesting intellectual challenge than the one we face today.“

At one session, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown shared his vision of how to make globalisation work in the new global order.

“The world is fundamentally different from what it was 10-15 years ago – we need to think about how to reconfigure the connectivity required,“ he said.

He also pointed to the increasing need for consensus on how to address infectious diseases, humanitarian aid and even AI applications.

Throughout the summit, connectivity was championed over protectionism. Speakers underscored the need for widespread collaboration to tackle not just global challenges such as the net zero transition, but also in exploring tokenisation and blockchain use cases, and developing financial infrastructure.

Greg Guyett, our CEO of Global Banking & Markets, reinforced this sentiment, saying: “We need to remember that our true north star is to improve human lives and individual outcomes. Our focus needs to be about ensuring more people have greater economic opportunity.“

There were repeated calls at the summit for public and private sectors to work more closely together to share insights, resources and scale solutions via mechanisms like blended finance.

And the summit provided a time and place for this to happen. Over 5,000 meetings took place among delegates, helping to connect corporates with institutions, as well as investors with issuers.

We look forward to welcoming people to the next HSBC Global Investment Summit in 2025.