vulnerable segments of the population – the elderly and the illiterate, or the cashstrapped, who may fall easy prey to get - rich - quick schemes. i believe that with the collective partnership of all industry participants, individuals and regulators, we can preserve the credibility and reputation of singapore as an insurance hub. initiative the second value is initiative. as part of a national effort to raise the level of skills and competencies of singapore ’ s financial sector workforce, the fics was established to benchmark competency standards of financial professionals to international best practices. i congratulate ge life for taking the initiative to become the first insurer to be successfully accredited for its assessment capabilities in underwriting, relationship management and claims handling under the fics. ge life ’ s agency force also forms the first batch of candidates who have successfully attained fics certification in the insurance industry. involvement the third value is involvement. the fics awards reflect a whole - of - company involvement. at the company level, the fics accreditation status recognizes ge life ’ s commitment to benchmark the competencies of its workforce to international best practices. at the staff level, the fics certification status helps promote individual attainment of the standards of professional competency and fair dealing in the insurance marketplace. we hope that ge life will continue to keep up the momentum to participate in industry - wide efforts to raise the professionalism in the industry. we hope that we will catalyse a whole - of - industry involvement in this fics effort. conclusion i am therefore delighted this afternoon to present the fics accredited assessment service provider award to ge life. it is both a celebration of your achievements over the last 100 years, and an affirmation of your commitment to continued excellence, building on the core values that have served you so well. may i also congratulate the 12 pioneer candidates who are awarded fics certification today. the industry looks to you to uphold the high standards of personal integrity, competency and professional conduct expected of all agents. on this note, i congratulate mrs fang ai lian and the staff of ge life on this happy day, and wish you greater success for the next 100 years to come.

##ly access the more liquid onshore interest rate swap market to manage related interest rate risks, rather than relying on offshore non - deliverable interest rate swaps. these initiatives have been welcomed by the market and are conducive to 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches closer connectivity between the onshore markets and international investors, and ultimately benefit the high - quality development of onshore financial markets. moving on to another key focus for the next stage of china's opening up : its green finance market. to achieve its dual - carbon strategies, it's estimated that over rmb100 trillion will need to be directed towards carbon reduction, which presents significant climate finance opportunities for foreign investors. as the leading green and sustainable finance hub in asia and the dominant gateway to china, hong kong plays a crucial role in supporting china's climate transition by channelling international capital to green projects. last year, out of the approximately us $ 28 billion green and sustainable bond issuances in hong kong, mainland entities accounted for over 80 % of the issuances. since 2021, we have supported the green, sustainable, and blue bond issuances from the governments of the shenzhen municipality and hainan province in hong kong. this has created a strong demonstrative effect for both public and private sectors in the mainland to leverage hong kong's green bond platform and enriched the range of rmb financial products available in the hong kong market. hong kong is already asia's largest sustainable financing centre, with one - third market share. to facilitate further growth in sustainable investment between china and the rest of the world, we have spearheaded several initiatives. first, we are the first asian jurisdiction mandating climate - related disclosure across the financial sector by 2025, and the first market working to operationalise the common ground taxonomy jointly developed by china and the eu. this allows international issuers and investors to report and communicate sustainability impacts and meet regulatory and investor needs across global markets. secondly, we have been collaborating with relevant mainland authorities to promote hong kong's green financing platform. together with the guangzhou branch of the people's bank of china and hkex, we launched the " guide for mainland corporates to issue green bonds in hong kong " last year, providing operational guidance for more mainland corporates to issue green bonds in hong kong. thirdly, we have introduced a number of financial support measures, including subsidies and tax incentives, such as the green and sustainable finance grant scheme, to cover the