HKETO Newsroom

Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, joined the "Hong Kong-Markham AI and Hardware Tech Exchange” webinar hosted by the HKETO, City of Markham, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (Toronto) and Invest Hong Kong (Canada) on November 2.

This webinar shared with participants the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and hardware technology through keynote speeches, panel discussions with business leaders operating in Hong Kong and the City of Markham, as well as a networking session.  It also aimed to inspire the technology communities on the support that both cities offered in nurturing innovation and technology businesses as well as start-up partnerships with a global outlook.

In delivering welcome remarks at the webinar, Ms Mo noted Markham and Hong Kong share a lot of commonalities, that both cities are tech-ready and home to many technology leaders and businesses.  “Earlier this year, Markham is named as the Smart21 City, whereas Hong Kong was ranked by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) as the second most digitally competitive place in the world,” Ms Mo said.

Hong Kong is a growing innovation and technology (I&T) hub offering lots of opportunities, and in anticipation of an ageing population, the need for AI and robotics in sectors like healthcare, gerontology, fintech, clean tech would continue to grow. "Hence, I&T development is a priority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government," Ms Mo said.

"The flagship project ‘InnoHK research clusters’ under which two clusters on healthcare technologies as well as the AI and robotics technologies were set up in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. This project has attracted many top-notch universities, research institutions including those from Canada,” Ms Mo continued.

In addition, Hong Kong is a core city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development, and the National 14th Five-Year Plan also supported Hong Kong's development into an international I&T hub.  "All these will further strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a platform for foreign companies to capitalize the endless opportunities offered by the Greater Bay Area and the Mainland Chinese market," Ms Mo said.

Beyond China, Hong Kong is the also housing numerous Asian regional headquarters of various companies due to its location and business friendly environment.  “With the Free Trade Agreement between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in effect, you will be able to connect to the Asian market through Hong Kong easily,” Ms Mo added.

Before closing, Ms Mo invited Canadian companies to tap on the tremendous opportunities offered by Hong Kong to fuel business expansion to the Mainland China, Asia and beyond. Following Ms Mo’s remarks, Head of InvestHK Canada Mr Christopher Chen, moderated a panel to discuss with industry leaders on the latest developments in the field of AI. While Acting Director, Economic Growth, Culture, and Entrepreneurship at City of Markham, Ms Christina Kakaflikas, moderated a second panel with speakers sharing their valuable insights on the latest hardware technology.