AsiaBerlin Summit 2020

Due to the pandemic and the corresponding restrictions on travelling and social gathering, HKETO Berlin seized the opportunity of the AsiaBerlin Summit by the Berlin Senate to organise an exclusive online business seminar titled “Resilience in a global turmoil: Launching your fintech dream in the vibrant start-up ecosystem in Hong Kong” on September 22, 2020. Speakers from Hong Kong, Germany and Switzerland provided invaluable insights into the ecosystem of Hong Kong’s fintech industry. The target audience of the seminar included government bodies, businesses and academia from the eight countries under HKETO Berlin’s purview.

The AsiaBerlin Summit is a platform to establish an international startup ecosystem between Berlin and Asia. As moderator of the seminar, Director of the HKETO Berlin, Mr Bill Li highlighted that “Hong Kong offers an enormous base of highly skilled workers and is a business centre that connects Mainland China with global markets, making it ideal for start-ups and existing companies to develop and apply fintech”.

Fintech is a sector of strategic focus of the HKSAR Government, and substantial resources are being invested to foster the growth of an ecosystem. Also, in light of the economic challenge from the pandemic, additional government support measures have been put in place to help fintech companies cushion the impact.

Hong Kong has the world’s second-fastest internet speed and was ranked 5th in digitalisation of the traditional financial sector in 2018. Many initiatives flank the excellent infrastructure and quick adaptation rolled out by the Government to support the fintech sector. Amongst others, the $2 billion Innovation and Technology Venture Fund has been launched to help bridge the funding gap for technology start-ups.