SmartHK, a flagship event of Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week, drew about 2,000 business elites to Guangzhou this week, boosting cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland centres of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week runs from 24 May to 7 June in the GBA, accelerating collaboration and exchange among Hong Kong and Guangdong government departments, organisations, chambers of commerce and trade associations through more than 20 business and trade activities across GBA cities.
Mr John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Wang Weizhong, Governor of Guangdong Province, and Dr Peter K N Lam, Chairman of the HKTDC, presided over the opening ceremony of Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week and SmartHK, which is organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce.
Integration point
Mr Lee said: “Full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and Mainland China meant the flow of people between Hong Kong and Guangdong had resumed and the ‘one-hour living circle’ in the GBA had made same-day travel very convenient. My team and I would make frequent visits to the GBA to promote interconnection and interoperability, advancing quality development and facilitating Hong Kong’s active integration into the overall development of the country.”
Dr Lam pointed out that Hong Kong’s development had been closely tied with that of Guangdong for many years. As two core GBA cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou had long maintained close cooperation and complemented each other’s advantages in various fields, such as finance, innovation and technology and the creative sector.
Mr Wang hoped the business communities of Guangdong and Hong Kong could fully leverage this forum and the Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week to further promote high-level economic and trade cooperation and high-quality development between the two regions. He encouraged Hong Kong entrepreneurs to boost cooperation with Guangdong in areas such as technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, modernised services and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism.
High-quality development
Following the opening ceremony, the thematic sharing forum discussed professional strengths of Hong Kong and other GBA cities. Mr Adam Kwok, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, Dr Levin Wang, CEO of Huatai Financial Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, Mr Ronald Lam, CEO of Cathay Pacific Group and Mr Xu Shaochun, Chairman and CEO of Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited, discussed opportunities GBA development.
Subsequent forums co-organised by the HKTDC and partners, such as InvestHK, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, HKSAR Development Bureau and the Hong Kong Construction Industry Council, focused on cross-border asset management, green finance, sustainable urban living, green & smart building technologies and more.
SmartHK’s debuted the GBA Live Studio show, designed to extend the event to other GBA cities and enable online participation.
Building a talent hub
To further address the importance of fostering talents and respond to the national strategy of supporting youth development, SmartHK introduced the GBA Young Entrepreneur Summit, exclusively sponsored by Hang Seng Bank, which assembled scientific research entrepreneurs, young entrepreneur and venture capital fund managers from the GBA.
At the successful Smart+ start-up pitching event 17 candidates came from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Sino Inno Lab and the HKTDC’s Start-up Express, covering AI and blockchain, medical and health, and new ESG technologies and materials.
Driving complementarity with innovation
The five exhibition zones featured 70 Hong Kong companies from professional services, technological innovation, industry & academic research, creative design and other sectors introducing Hong Kong's professional services, and providing on-site business matching services and one-on-one opportunities for Hong Kong exhibitors and GBA enterprise representatives to deepen exchanges explore new partnerships.
Another flagship Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week, Chic HK, will be held from tomorrow to 28 May in Shenzhen to promote Hong Kong’s professional services and fashion brands to the business community and public in the GBA.
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