Organisers of the Asian Financial Forum say more than 100 industry heavyweights will attend this year's event in person, after the forum was held online in the past two years due to the pandemic.

The Trade Development Council (TDC) said the two-day event will feature talks by global business leaders, policymakers and wealth management experts on green finance, trade and sustainability.

"This year, with the government's relaxation of Covid restrictions, we are obviously in a position now to fully reopen to all the overseas participants. Indeed, we are in huge interest. A lot of people really want to reconnect face-to-face," said the TDC's deputy executive director Patrick Lau.

Lau added that he hopes the forum can send a message to the world that Hong Kong is returning to normalcy.

"We all know that 2022 was such a difficult year for many people. There were lots of unexpected changes last year, [such as] geopolitical tensions, the conflict in Ukraine and Russia, the major inflation issues across the whole world, and also the resulting interest rate hikes. All these are impacting businesses in a very major and rapid manner," he said.

"With a huge relief, we are hopefully putting 2022 in the past. This will be a very interesting [chance] for thousands of our participants to gather together at the start of the year, to talk about how to handle all the challenges."

The 16th Asian Financial Forum, themed "Accelerating Transformation: Impact, Inclusion, Innovation", will be held on January 11 and 12.