HONG KONG - 13 April 2023 – HKmediaEx presented in Asia’s flagship innovation and technology event, the Digital Economy Summit (DES) 2023, which was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
Jointly organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government and Cyberport, the two-day summit held in hybrid format gathers the world’s influential leaders in technology, business, academia and government, to explore the significance of technological innovations in boosting economic growth and accelerating the formation of resilient and futureproof digital societies.
DES 2023 aims to inspire regional and global visions for a better digital future. More than 100 renowned international speakers including leaders from Hashkey, Alibaba, ARUP, Cisco, Huawei, Microsoft, Panasonic, SenseTime and Tencent, alongside government leaders from Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland, share their insights over the two days in eight specialist forums anchored around the central theme “Emerging with Resilience: Fostering a Smarter Future”.
Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu: “Our country's key strategies of the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development support Hong Kong's development into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre. We are now poised to start a new chapter of digital economy development through our persistent pursuit of I&T advancement. To echo the theme of today's Summit, we must embrace the sweeping changes brought about by the digital revolution, in order to emerge stronger than ever in a smarter future. As the only city in the world where the global advantages and the China advantage converge, Hong Kong will continue to be the ideal base for Mainland enterprises to develop their global reach and a launchpad for foreign companies to gain access to the Mainland Chinese market. It is our top priority to ensure that business and investment prospects in Hong Kong will continue to flourish in the years to come.”
Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary Paul Chan-po:“The emergence of Web3 is triggering a new wave of innovations in fintech. Virtual assets, stablecoins, DeFi (decentralised finance), NFTs (non-fungible tokens), etc. They are set to become major forces of financial transformation in some years to come. We know they are irreversible trends that need to be embraced.But at the same time, some important issues arise. For example, would there be regulatory gaps? Would they transmit risks to traditional financial system and threaten financial stability? How could we best protect individual investors from fraud and scams? That's why when we issued our Policy Statement on the Development of Virtual Assets, we have emphasised the "same activity, same risks, same regulation" principle, and the need to put in place timely and necessary guardrails, so that virtual asset innovations can thrive in Hong Kong in a sustainable and responsible manner." "Sustainable" is the keyword here. A healthy, sustainable ecosystem must have a strong immune system - that is, the ability to weed out the bad players, and insulate our financial system and stability from undue impact. The crux to this is whether we could apply balanced, proportionate regulation that will properly and adequately mitigate pertinent risks, while leaving sufficient room for innovative products and services to break new ground. Regulation and facilitation are not against one other. Rather, they go hand in hand: when we have a robust, consistent, predictable and fit-for-purpose regulatory regime, it instils confidence and trust in investors and market players, basing on which a vibrant innovative environment will be built.”
Hong Kong SAR Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong: “To achieve high-quality economic development, digitalisation is an inevitable trend. On this journey of transformation, I&T is one of the key driving forces. The wider adoption of I&T could revitalise traditional industries, spawn new businesses, foster a diversified economy and create quality employment opportunities in Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Executive Director (Monetary Management) Clara Chan delivered its keynote speech titled “Building a Fit-for-purpose Regulatory Regime to Support the Sustainable and Responsible Development of Virtual Assets Including Stablecoins”. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong embraces financial innovation and encourages the industry to explore the potential of distributed ledger technology. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is keen to promote the sustainable and responsible development of the virtual asset sector in Hong Kong, with the development of the regulatory framework for stablecoins being one of our focus. We aim to put in place risk-based and proportionate guardrails for stablecoins, and catalyse and support market development through pilot projects and relevant policies.
Bank of China (Hong Kong) Chief Information Officer Rocky Cheng delivered his keynote speech titled “Building an Interconnected and Coherent Digital Financial Infrastructure”. Hong Kong is committed to developing a digital economy and transforming into a smart city. Building a highly interconnected and coherent digital financial infrastructure is an indispensable cornerstone for the safe and rapid development of the digital economy. It can greatly enhance the efficiency of the digital transformation and operation of the entire society, reduce systemic risks as well as enabling efficient interconnection and interaction with advanced international digital systems.
China Wanxiang Blockchain Inc Vice Chairman and Executive Director Feng Xiao delivered his keynote speech titled “GPT4 & Digital Economy”. The world of Web3 has been evolving rapidly in recent years, presenting new opportunities as well as new business models for users to be real owners of assets and data. Hong Kong could position itself as a hub for data related consolidation, registration and asset management.
Photo: HKmediaEx Founder and CEO Lewis Wan with Cyberport Chairman Simon Chan (Right)
HKmediaEx Founder and CEO Lewis Wan: “Hong Kong’s sizeable scale and competence in the financial services and copyright sectors will provide essential support for the development and adoption of blockchain-based financial services and copyrightNFT, and decentralized finance DeFi applications, which are among the most promising aspects of Web3.“
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