In recent years, the government of Hong Kong has been injecting funds to build the city into the next innovation and technology (I&T) hub. On top of the previously funded HK$10 billion, its Science Park gained a huge slice of funding (HK$50 billion) from the 2018-2019 Budget in the aim of supporting areas of AI, smart cities and fintech.

It comes at no surprise that the city hosts the largest tech conference in Asia, RISE Hong Kong, a production by Web Summit and Collision, two fastest-growing and largest conferences in the world.

Ready for more? Take this opportunity to join us on a learning expedition during RISE in Hong Kong in July to meet leaders from the biggest tech companies (Ping An Technology, Tencent, Ant Financial) and most innovative and trending startups (Go-Jek, Byton, Didi Chuxing)!

Click here to find out more!

In 2018, Hong Kong maintained its place as the world’s third most attractive financial centre and top in Asia, beating Asian Tigers Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan according to the Global Financial Centers Index (GCFI). Its booming fintech ecosystem comprises of over 550 fintech companies and is heavily supported by the government with a USD $64 million fund provided for developing financial services over the next 5 years.

Contributing to the rising fintech scene include mobile lending startup WeLab (fastest growing tech startup in Hong Kong) as well as payment and remittance company Airwallex (secured more than US$102 million funding including tech giant Tencent). Two other innovative startups worth notetaking are 8 Securities, Asia’s first robo-advisor and mobile-only stock trading service for millennials in Hong Kong and Japan and Oriente, a financial service startup focused on financial inclusion and access for emerging markets, and uses AI, machine learning and data science to build support their vision through real-time credit scoring, digital and online to offline lending.

Being in a geographically strategic position in the heart of the APAC region, Hong Kong maintains its “super connector” ability between China and the rest of the world. The implementation of the Greater Bay Area plan to cluster world-class cities in China (eg. Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai), along with its own well-established financial system, robust legal framework and huge talent pool, contributes to this factor. When countries are eager to trade with China, but are reluctant to do so due to strict regulatories and infrastructures, Hong Kong gradually plays the role of bridging these differences and acts as a place for international commerce and innovation.

As one of the largest data storage hubs in the regionwith significant computational power, Hong Kong provides an excellent environment for the development and application of AI technology. One notable example in the field is the world’s most valuable AI startup SenseTime. Valued at US$ 4.5 billion, SenseTime specializes in computer vision and deep learning tech such as facial recognition technology with use cases spanning over smartphones, education, entertainment, finance and mobility.

Hong Kong is also home to an emerging robotics community, with a great deal of expertise and design infrastructure. A success story comes from Hong Kong-based startup Hanson Robotics, which combined AI with Southern China’s expertise in toy design, electronic and manufacturing to craft humanoid “social robot”, Sophia for service and entertainment applications and has recently introduced a mini version consumer robot to help with learning for younger children.