Hong Kong's Solicitor General, Frank Poon, pledged to grow the jurisdiction's status as a legal and dispute resolution hub in his keynote speech at the Legal Week Corporate Counsel Forum Hong Kong today.

"This government's policy has its logical underpinning in Hong Kong's role as a global business and financial centre and the historical development of its legal system," he told the delegation of 250 general counsel and other senior lawyers at the sell-out Hong Kong event.

Referring to the recent demonstrations in Hong Kong, Poon, who is a member of the Department of Justice, went on to extoll the strength of the rule of law in the jurisdiction under the 'one country, two systems' principle, claiming it was "robust enough to withstand the test of the occupy movement".

"The future of Hong Kong is underpinned by our unwavering adherence to the rule of law, in particular judicial independence," he said. "They together bring about a secure and predictable environment for individuals and organisations, enable everyone to enforce his or her legal rights and obligations as well as guarantee a level playing field for businesses."

Audience at Legal Week Corporate Counsel Forum Hong Kong

The conference, chaired by Gill Meller, legal director of MTR Corporation, is playing host to a range of discussions and debates on topics affecting Asia, including China's foreign investment rules and anticorruption and compliance practices.

Speakers include Gordon Liu, Dell's executive legal director in Greater China, Catherine Kardinal, Siemens' general counsel, and Danh Nguyen, Western Union Company's senior counsel and head of legal for Asia-Pacific.

In his opening speech, Poon outlined a series of initiatives being undertaken by the administration to bolster the jurisdiction's status as a leading regional legal hub.

These included initiatives by the judiciary to speed up and streamline court proceedings and a plan to open a legal and dispute resolution centre in central Hong Kong by 2018.

Poon also highlighted the pilot scheme launched in September 2014 allowing Hong Kong and Chinese firms to form associations in the Guangdong province.