Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, joined the “Canadian Virtual Mission to Asia Summit on Global Health (ASGH)” pre-mission networking meeting jointly organised by HKETO, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Invest Hong Kong (Canada) and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA) on October 27.
This virtual pre-mission networking meeting aimed to provide Canadian delegates with an overview of the ASGH programme, and how they can take advantage of this trade mission to diversify their businesses to Asia through the Hong Kong platform. The first ASGH will be held in Hong Kong on November 24, 2021.
In delivering the welcome remarks, Ms Mo was delighted to share with participants that Hong Kong has the highest expectancy in the world, and according to the Economist’s research, the city ranked number 1 in returning to life normalcy during the global pandemic in the past summer.
“While the pandemic has reminded the world about the importance of investing in healthcare, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has set up two ‘InnoHK research clusters’ at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks with an aim to pool together talents from around the world to establish Hong Kong as the hub for global research collaboration,” Ms Mo said.
“So far, the clusters have focused on two major areas, namely healthcare technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies. This project has since attracted many top-notch universities, research institutions and partners including the University of Waterloo,” Ms Mo added.
On business front, Hong Kong has become the world’s second largest fundraising hub for biotechnology companies, and since mid-2018 there have been 43 companies listed under the pre-revenue biotech companies regime raising a total of over 50 billion USD, which accounts for about 40% of the total IPO funds raised in the period.
Indeed, Hong Kong is an important gateway for foreign manufacturers of medicine products, medical devices or drugs to tap into the Mainland Chinese market. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development bearing an economic cluster of nine Guangdong cities plus Hong Kong and Macao offered huge opportunities for healthcare businesses using Hong Kong as a platform.
Beyond China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also presents abundant business opportunities in the Asia’s healthcare industry. “Research shows that the over65s group will account for 21% of ASEAN’s total population by 2050, compared with over 9% in 2016. Healthcare spending is projected to rise correspondingly by more than 70% over the next two decades, from 420 billion USD in 2017 to 740 billion USD in 2025. With the Free Trade Agreement between Hong Kong and ASEAN in effect, you will be able to connect to the Asian market through Hong Kong easily,” Ms Mo said.
Before closing, Ms Mo introduced a new policy in Hong Kong to cope with the health manpower shortage in the city by creating a new pathway to allow non-locally trained doctors to apply for full registration in Hong Kong after fulfilling a set of criteria. She hoped that the participants could spread the news to interested parties.
The virtual meeting was chaired by Board Director of HKCBA (Ottawa Section) Ms Sandra Wu. Two business leaders, President and CEO of IWEUS Capital, Mr James Clarke, and President of Keiretsu Forum Canada, Mr Ozan Isinak, shared their insights on tapping into the healthcare technology and investment opportunities in Asia via Hong Kong at the event.
香港經貿處歡迎加拿大企業參與首屆全球健康亞洲高峰論壇
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於十月二十七日參與由香港經貿處、香港貿易發展局、香港投資推廣署加拿大辦事處及港加商會合辦的「加拿大代表團參與網上全球健康亞洲高峰論壇」（健康高峰論壇）交流會。
該網上交流會旨在向加拿大代表團簡介健康高峰論壇的活動內容及如何透過這次貿易團善用香港平台發展多元業務至亞洲。首屆健康高峰論壇將於二○二一年十一月二十四日在香港舉行。
巫菀菁在會議上致歡迎辭時，與與會者分享香港是全球人均壽命最長的地方。根據《經濟學人》的調查發現，在剛過去的夏季疫情仍然肆虐全球期間，香港的恢復生活常態排行世界第一。
巫菀菁表示：「疫情提醒全球投資醫療保健的重要。香港特別行政區政府已在香港科技園公司設立兩個『InnoHK創新香港研發平台』，旨在匯聚全球人才，建設香港成為環球科研合作中心。」
巫菀菁補充說：「目前研發平台有兩個主要範疇，分別是醫療科技以及人工智能和機械人科技。這項目已吸引許多世界知名的學府、科研機構及夥伴合作機構，包括滑鐵盧大學。」
在商貿方面，香港已成為全球第二大生物科技公司的融資中心。自二○一八年年中以來，已有43家間未有收入的生物科技公司在香港上市，募集資金總額超過500億美元，佔同期首次公開招股募集資金總額約四成。
事實上，香港是醫療產品、醫療設備及藥物的海外生產商進軍中國內地市場的重要門戶。粵港澳大灣區發展涵蓋香港、澳門及九個廣東城市的經濟群，為善用香港作為平台的醫療保健業提供龐大的機遇。
除了中國內地，東南亞國家聯盟（東盟）亦在亞洲的醫療保健業提供無限商機。巫菀菁表示：「調查顯示，二○一六年超過65歲的群組佔東盟總人口逾9%，但到了二○五○年，這群組將佔21%，預計醫療保健開支在未來二十年會相應增加超過七成，由二○一七年的4,200億美元增加至二○二五年的7,400億美元。香港與東盟簽訂的自由貿易協定已經正式生效，便利各位通過香港連繫亞洲市場。」
最後，巫菀菁介紹香港應付醫護人手短缺的新政策，開闢新途徑容許符合一系列條件的非本地培訓醫生在香港申請註冊執業，巫菀菁邀請與會者將此消息傳遞給有興趣的人士。
網上會議由港加商會（渥太華分會）董事Sandra Wu主持，兩位商界領袖包括IWEUS Capital主席暨總裁James Clarke及Keiretsu Forum Canada主席Ozan Isinak分享他們通過香港在亞洲投資醫療保健技術業的商機。
