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From an I&T award presentation ceremony to I&T development

A gist of the blog:

Last week, I attended an award presentation ceremony relating to application of innovation and technology (I&T). During my sharing with the winning team from a local university, I realised that we had met in the opening ceremony of the Youth Internship Programme at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing months ago. The students told me that the internship in CAS, during which they learnt various problem-solving methods and application of technologies, was inspirational and useful to their future development.

In recent years, the Government has been actively promoting the development of I&T. While resources deployment is essential in pursuing our work, arousing the interest of youngsters and the general public in I&T is also of prime importance. The InnoCarnival, which is now running in the Science Park, is one of the large-scale events we organised in recent years to raise public awareness and knowledge on I&T.

We also hope that industry players can be more responsive in embracing technologies and have been focusing our efforts in the development of Fintech in Hong Kong. The Fintech Week of this year attracted business leaders, start-ups, investors, academics and representatives of regulatory bodies from a number of countries and regions. Apart from forums and exhibitions, this year’s Fintech Week introduced a new feature named “Fast Track 2018” which matches selected start-ups with exclusive partners to receive consultation services on legal and tax, regulation, marketing and financial services, so as to facilitate their business expansion in Hong Kong and beyond.

Last week, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority officially launched eTradeConnect, a blockchain-based trade finance platform developed by a consortium of 12 major banks in Hong Kong. It aims to improve trade efficiency and reduce the risks of handling mistakes and fraud by digitising trade documents and automating trade finance processes. The operators of eTradeConnect and the we.trade signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a proof-of-concept on connecting the two platforms, so as to enable cross-border trade financing.

At the same time, in light of the significant risks that virtual assets may pose to investors or performance of illegal acts by law-breakers such as money laundering, Securities and Futures Commission announced last week new measures to enhance protection to those who invest in virtual asset portfolios or funds. On the whole, we put equal emphasis on facilitation and regulation in respect of the application of I&T in the industries. We shall maintain a good control to bring the utmost convenience and protection to the public.

November 4, 2018