Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, joined the "Cybersecurity and Fintech - A Symbiotic Success" webinar hosted by Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Montreal Section) (HKCBA) on February 9. This webinar aimed to promote Hong Kong as the desired destination for Canadian entrepreneurs to expand their businesses to the mainland China and Asian markets.
In her welcome remarks, Ms Mo noted Hong Kong is an international financial centre and the city’s financial institutions and technology companies have been enjoying great flexibility to develop fintech solutions before the pandemic. “And after these two special years, we can tell that fintech is a key growth engine for the financial industry in the post-pandemic era,” she continued.
Ms Mo moved on to reiterate the business advantages of Hong Kong and highlight the optimistic prospects for the city as affirmed by China's National 14th Five-Year Plan. “The Plan supports Hong Kong’s continued expansion as an international financial centre, develop into an international innovation and technology hub as well as deepen and widen the connections between the financial markets of Hong Kong and the mainland of China,” Ms Mo said.
“Besides, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area presents tremendous opportunities for overseas including Canadian companies,” Ms Mo continued.
Ms Mo pointed out that in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also developed a “Fintech 2025” strategy to encourage the financial sector to adopt technology comprehensively by 2025. “The five focus areas are 1) All banks go fintech; 2) Future-proofing Hong Kong for Central Bank Digital Currencies; 3) Creating the next-generation data infrastructure; 4) Expanding the fintech-savvy workforce; and 5) Nurturing the ecosystem with funding and policies,” Ms Mo elaborated.
Before closing, Ms Mo briefly refreshed participants on the cross-boundary initiatives connecting the capital markets of Hong Kong and the Mainland China and encouraged Canadian entrepreneurs to grasp the abundant opportunities to expand their businesses to Asia through Hong Kong.
The webinar, moderated by Head of Invest Hong Kong in Canada Mr Christopher Chen, was also joined by other panellists including President and CEO of 01 Communique Laboratory Inc and IronCAP Mr Andrew Cheung, Director, Wealth Management of The Horwood Team Mr John Horwood, President & General Manager of Cybereco Mr Marcel Lebelle and CEO of OwlGaze Mr Ralph Chammah.
香港經貿處處長向加拿大企業推廣網絡安全及金融科技業的商機
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於二月九日參與由港加商會（滿地可分會）舉辦的「網絡安全及金融科技 – 互建成功」網上研討會。該研討會旨在推廣香港是加拿大企業擴展業務至中國內地及亞洲市場的理想目的地。
巫菀菁致歡迎辭時表示，香港是國際金融中心，而香港的金融機構及科技公司在疫情前已經享有發展金融科技應用方案的高度靈活性。巫菀菁續說：「就過去兩年的特殊經驗，我們可以體會到金融科技是金融業在後疫情時代增長的主要引擎。」
巫菀菁接着簡述香港的營商優勢並強調國家《十四五規劃綱要》確定了香港未來的光明前景。巫菀菁表示：「該規劃綱要支持香港繼續發展成為國際金融中心及國際創新和科技樞紐，並深化和擴大香港與中國內地金融市場互聯互通。」
巫菀菁續說：「此外，粵港澳大灣區的發展亦為海外企業包括加拿大公司帶來龐大商機。」
巫菀菁指出，香港金融管理局亦已推出「金融科技2025」策略，鼓勵金融業界於二Ｏ二五年前全面應用金融科技。巫菀菁簡介說：「該策略的五大範疇包括：1)全面推展銀行數碼化；2)加深央行數碼貨幣研究；3)發揮數據基建潛能；4)擴展金融科技人才庫；及5)善用資源政策支持發展。」
最後，巫菀菁向與會者簡介聯通香港及中國內地資本市場的跨境項目，她鼓勵加拿大企業抓緊龐大機遇，透過香港擴展業務至亞洲。
網上研討會由香港投資推廣署多倫多辦事處投資推廣總監陳立智主持，其他專題講者包括 01 Communique Laboratory Inc 及IronCAP總裁暨首席行為總監Andrew Cheung、The Horwood Team財富管理總監John Horwood、Cybereco總裁暨總經理Marcel Lebelle及OwlGaze首席行為總監Ralph Chammah。
