HK retains core strengths

2019-10-30 01:37:56

I would like to come back to Hong Kong and review with you many of the key ingredients that have enabled Sweden and Estonia to be successful in financial innovation.

First, like Sweden and Estonia, Hong Kong is a leading digital economy, consistently achieving top rankings in digital readiness and Internet access capabilities. Hong Kong currently has 11 submarine cable systems and overland systems. Our broadband networks cover nearly all commercial and residential buildings, and our household broadband penetration rate is around 93%. Our mobile penetration rate of 276% is also among the highest in the world. Free public Wi-Fi service is available in most public places such as major parks, tourist attractions and leisure and cultural facilities.

So we are all fortunate to be living and studying in a city with one of the most sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure in the world. This is the foundation for you to become digitally connected and have global access to ideas and information.

Secondly, in terms of education, our government recognises the need to equip our students with the skills required in the 21st century. For fintech specifically, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority operates the Fintech Career Accelerator Scheme, which aims to provide practical experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students through internships in fintech companies in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. These initiatives are in addition to the Government?s pilot programme for talent training in the wealth and asset management and insurance sectors for existing professionals. And that was rolled out in 2016.

Six of our universities are offering fintech degree undergraduate or postgraduate programmes. I encourage all of you to be intellectually curious, whatever degrees you are pursuing, and be observant of the opportunities brought about by the new economy. Indeed, both formal and informal education are important for gaining knowledge and experience as you develop your career in financial services and fintech.

Thirdly, like Sweden, Hong Kong is a small and open economy vulnerable to the influence of the external environment. Hong Kong is a place where you can develop an international outlook and perspective. In fact, I am pleased to note that one in four university students in Hong Kong participates in exchange programmes lasting at least one semester during their time in university.

The Government has been operating a new Funding Scheme on International Youth Exchange since 2017, and we are also launching the Belt & Road Scholarships to encourage outstanding students along the Belt & Road economies to pursue studies in Hong Kong. This provides students in Hong Kong the opportunity to make acquaintances and understand the culture and business environment along the Belt & Road. Hence, I encourage all of you to keep abreast of international developments and develop a truly global mindset.

Here I should add that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area provides a key driver for Hong Kong to develop innovation and technology with the tech community in Shenzhen and the rest of the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong universities are very strong in basic research whereas the tech companies in Shenzhen are very good in commercialisation of tech ideas and innovations. So there can be great synergy here and I encourage you to make good use of such collaboration opportunities.

I&T investment

After talking about the three factors of tech infrastructure, education and international outlook and opportunities, let me turn now to our government investment in innovation and technology.

While the Swedish and Estonian governments had an early start towards digital government and smart city, our Government has for some years also placed innovation and technology at the heart of the policy agenda.

This administration has committed over $100 billion to promoting research and development, nurturing local talent, attracting international expertise and supporting technology enterprises. These include $10 billion to establish two world-class research clusters in the Hong Kong Science Park. One is on healthcare technologies and the other is on artificial intelligence and robotics technologies. This initiative has received enthusiastic responses from many top universities around the world.

In fintech, the Cyberport community is one of the largest fintech clusters in Asia and is pressing ahead in areas such as InsurTech, or insurance technology, RegTech, or regulatory technology, and LawTech, or legal technology. So I would really encourage all of you to take advantage of the many new initiatives in innovation and technology here in Hong Kong.

Impressive achievements

Finally, let me share with you two international rankings released just this month that reflect Hong Kong's impressive achievements as Asia's World City. In the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 Report released just two days ago, Hong Kong was ranked third in the ease of doing business out of 190 economies. This puts us behind New Zealand and Singapore, and ahead of Denmark and South Korea in 4th and 5th places. Our high ranking reaffirms our efforts to cut red tape and enhance regulatory efficiency and reflects our favourable environment for businesses to flourish.

Similarly, in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report published this month, Hong Kong was ranked 3rd globally among 141 economies, up four places from last year and ranked just behind Singapore and the United States. Among the different measures, Hong Kong was ranked within the top five for institutions, infrastructure, information and communications technology adoption and macroeconomic stability.

In conclusion, I would note that despite the difficult external and domestic environment, Hong Kong retains its core strengths as an international financial centre with an unrivalled geographical location, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, the free flow of information and a wide pool of professional talents. These took over a century to build, with countless hard work, sweats and tears. We rely on young people like you to safeguard our achievements and efforts built over these years.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury James Lau gave these remarks at the Financial Services Development Council Career Day 2019 on October 26.

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