More than 400 delegates from over 40 countries are expected to attend the 11th Global Residence and Citizenship Conference, which takes place in Hong Kong this week between 14 and 16 November.
Hosted by the leading international citizenship and residence advisory firm, Henley & Partners, this annual event has become the world’s largest and most significant conference on investment migration, bringing together presidents, prime ministers, senior government ministers and officials, leading academics, experienced industry professionals, and top-tier financial and business media. The conference provides delegates with cutting-edge content on the major trends in investment migration as well as those surrounding tax, wealth, and legacy planning. It also offers delegates an unrivalled opportunity to engage with the leading minds and ideas driving the current trend towards greater mobility and global citizenship.
Investment legend and global financial commentator Jim Rogers will provide a keynote address entitled ‘The Population Bomb: Migration, Global Population, and Environmental Trends, and What They Mean for Asia’, which will highlight some of the key issues affecting global citizens and their investments.
Other key speakers include the Prime Minister of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Joseph Muscat, who will talk about the advantages of Maltese citizenship for Asian investors, and the Minister of Tourism of Thailand, Her Excellency Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who will explain Thailand’s attractiveness as a second or even first home in Asia. Professor Dr. Dimitry Kochenov will discuss the latest edition of the Henley & Partners – Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, revealing how the quality of a nationality affects the movement of talent and business, while John Wong, PwC’s Private Client Services Leader in China and Hong Kong, will share the latest insights into tax planning for Chinese private clients.
The conference will open with an exclusive media-focused panel debate on the future of globalization in a time of increased localization. The debate will be moderated by BBC News correspondent Juliana Liu and will feature a panel of leading thinkers and strategists, including Dr. Simon Shen, renowned international relations scholar based at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shaun Rein, prolific economic commentator and Managing Director of the China Market Research Group, and Cesar Harada, entrepreneur, TED senior fellow, and developer of Protei, a shape-shifting sailing robot designed to effect environmental change.
Other topical sessions in this year’s program are ‘Global Citizenship in the Age of Brexit and Trump: Fighting for Fiscal Transparency and Global Mobility’ and ‘Global Citizenship in the Age of Big Data and Bitcoins: The Perils and Promises of the Technological Revolution’.
Another highlight of the conference is the Global Citizen Award, presented to an inspiring individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the global community. The 2017 laureate will be announced during a formal ceremony dinner on Thursday 16 November 2017.
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Group Chairman at Henley & Partners, says the conference is relevant to anyone interested in alternative residence and citizenship, including private clients, client advisors, private bankers, and lawyers, as well as governments operating programs in this space.
“Alternative residence and citizenship programs offer many exciting opportunities and have become a significant aspect of international private client planning,” explains Dr. Kälin. “In many respects, investment migration has become a valuable and strategic asset for talented and wealthy individuals and their families who want to operate globally, reduce their exposure to risk, increase their international flexibility, and open up new opportunities for growth.”