Speeches

Hong Kong Fintech Week 2019 Roadshow in Singapore

Following is the speech by the Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Mr Law Kin-wai at the Hong Kong Fintech Week 2019 in Singapore today (August 22):

Good Evening, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen:

It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to this evening’s Hong Kong Fintech Week 2019 Roadshow. This is very timely and relevant to us. Fintech is a fairly nascent sector, filled with tremendous promise and potential.

The economic landscape of Hong Kong, like that of Singapore, has evolved over the years. While traditional key industries like financial services and trade and logistics still critical to our economy, emerging sectors such as Creative Industries, Environmental Industries and Fintech are becoming more prominent and relevant.

Digital technologies are now widely adopted worldwide at an unprecedented pace. Fintech like e-wallets, payment gateways and money transfer platforms have opened the doors to both businesses and consumers. It is of no doubt that Fintech is increasingly more of a need than a want. We are seeing burgeoning Fintech startups all over the world and an industry which most of us would not even think of not too long ago.

Hong Kong has in place the firm foundation and key elements for the Fintech industry to develop and flourish. In recent years, the Government has launched various initiatives to boost the Fintech industry by facilitating collaborations between industry stakeholders, promoting innovation and attracting vibrant startups.

Examples include the annual Hong Kong Fintech Week, regulatory sandboxes and educational programmes. Also, we have signed various partnership agreements with our partners such as Singapore, Switzerland, UK, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia and Dubai to enhance cooperation through information exchange, promoting innovation, and market expansion. In particular, Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Monetary Authority of Singapore have entered into an agreement to strengthen cooperation and foster regional Fintech development.

Hong Kong and Singapore are key finance hubs in Asia and technologically advanced. The Fintech sector in Singapore is equally dynamic, vibrant and promising. I understand that an estimated 2,000 Fintech jobs were created in Singapore during the period 2016-2017 (about one quarter of the new jobs created in the Finance industry during the same period). There were also about 210 Fintech startups as at end 2017. I believe that these numbers would have certainly leapfrogged by now.

To fully optimise the growth potential that the Fintech sector can bring, I believe more collaborations between Hong Kong and Singapore, both in the public and private sectors, will be mutually beneficial. I look forward to seeing more of such partnerships in the future.

On this note, I will like to wish you a very fruitful and rewarding evening, as you find out more about the Hong Kong Fintech environment. Thank you!

Ends/Thursday, August 22, 2019