CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Recovery for Hong Kong Retail In November, we broke ground on Taikoo Li Xi’an, our We saw a strong recovery in our Hong Kong retail largest “Taikoo Li” project in the Chinese Mainland to date. business in 2023, with a significant growth in sales and in This is our first investment in Xi’an, and we have dedicated some cases, a return to pre-pandemic sales levels. This is considerable resources to researching the historical an extremely encouraging result after the challenges of background of this unique site, in order to create a truly the pandemic, and we are optimistic for the year ahead. world-class cultural landmark in the city. We believe the HKSAR Government’s initiatives to We are also making good progress on our retail-led promote Hong Kong’s tourism and to boost local development in Haitang Bay, Sanya, which will be our first consumption, in particular in staging world-class events, resort-style shopping mall and a new luxury tourist will continue to have a positive impact on footfall and destination for Hainan. sales in our malls in the long run. In Beijing, INDIGO Phase Two, a new commercial landmark We are pleased with our retail recovery despite the in Chaoyang District is under development, and will feature challenging conditions, and we attribute the growth to seven office towers in addition to a lifestyle hotel and the long-term partnerships with our tenants, which have innovative retail concepts. Our pioneering development of led to exciting collaborations to create new experiences One Taikoo Place and Two Taikoo Place has served as for our customers. We have also been investing in our inspiration for the project, and we aim to deliver a high loyalty programmes, and our local loyalty membership quality, vibrant commercial hub in the capital. increased by over 30% in 2023 compared to the previous We recently announced two significant investments in year. We remain committed to the digital transformation Shanghai’s Pudong District – a new mixed-use project of our business, combining the use of technology with opposite Taikoo Li Qiantan in the New Bund Area and personalised services to reinforce customer loyalty and another large-scale project on the Yangjing waterfront to provide an exceptional retail experience in our malls. along the Huangpu River. These will be our third and fourth New Investments in the large-scale developments in Shanghai, which is now our largest area of operation in the Chinese Mainland. These Chinese Mainland two projects also mark our first foray into the premium The Chinese Mainland is an increasingly important residential market in the Chinese Mainland. market for us, and our mixed-use investments are a key With Hong Kong as our home base, we have a well- driver of our profit growth. We are continuing to make established presence in the Greater Bay Area. We are good progress in building a strong pipeline under the currently developing a new House Collective hotel in HK$50 billion investment plan which we have earmarked Shenzhen Bay, Nanshan district, and are actively exploring for the Chinese Mainland. Our Taikoo Li and Taikoo Hui further investment opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. branded retail developments are all well-established Our Residential Pipeline destinations in their respective cities, and we are expanding our footprint with five new large-scale Our HK$100 billion investment plan also includes an projects in Tier-1 and emerging Tier-1 cities. We are very allocation of HK$20 billion for the proposed development pleased to have had the opportunity to complete the of our residential pipeline in Hong Kong and South East acquisition of the remaining interest in Taikoo Li Asia over the next decade. We have made significant Chengdu, one of our flagship malls in the Chinese progress over the past year, and have built up an exciting Mainland. 18