(Hong Kong, 25 September 2023) The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), has joined forces with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) to lead aspiring innovators to global growth opportunities, and extend Hong Kong’s innovation ecosystem to GEN’s 200 markets around the world. HKSTP led a delegation to Australia and attending the Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2023 in Melbourne to explore collaboration opportunities and ignite market discovery initiatives.
GEN is a global community that fosters deeper cross-border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policy makers and entrepreneurial support organisations, to make it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business.
In July this year, John Lee, the Chief Executive of HKSAR, witnessed an MoU signed by Jonathan Ortmans, GEN Founder and President and Dr Sunny Chai, Chairman of HKSTP, committing the two parties to support entrepreneurship across ASEAN countries. To expedite the partnership, HKSTP joined GEC 2023 in Melbourne from 19-22 September with a delegation of fast-rising startups and business leaders from Hong Kong. The delegation highlighted Hong Kong’s world-class I&T ecosystem and potential for collaboration with their counterparts from GEN’s global network. The infusion of new talent and ventures will further boost Hong Kong’s mission towards an international I&T hub, creating opportunities for all innovators.
Ir Dr HL Yiu, Chief Corporate Development Officer of HKSTP, said, “HKSTP is committed to growing collaboration with the worldwide innovation community through our partnership with GEN. Entrepreneurs all face common challenges in the startup-to-scale-up journey and Hong Kong’s unique integrated innovation ecosystem provides funding, R&D, talent and go-to-market opportunities to the world. Both HKSTP and GEN share the same vision of fostering global innovation, collaborating and growing our respective ecosystems to reach new levels of success.”
The collaboration with GEN commits both parties to exchange programmes and activities to drive cross-border and cross-sector collaboration with a focus on Green Tech, Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, SmartCity, Mobility, AI, and Fintech. GEN’s annual flagship events such as Global Entrepreneurship Week and the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, provide ideal platforms to expand Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem to new markets.
“GEN is committed to connecting entrepreneurs to opportunities that help them start and scale,” said Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “We are proud to be deepening collaboration with the HKSTP to advance the interest of both local and global founders.”
The HKSTP Australia delegation leveraged the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, which featured three days of actionable intelligence from various sectors. It gathered thousands of voices, from 200+ countries to participate in creating an inclusive global ecosystem by networking, learning and sharing. The delegation also met with representatives from the startup community, universities, government bodies and investors in Australia to further explore business and collaboration opportunities. In addition, the delegation shared experiences and exchanged ideas with Australian tech ventures who are interested in learning and exploring the Hong Kong market.
HKSTP also introduced its Market Discovery Programme in Hong Kong and shared details with enterprises interested in expanding into Hong Kong, the GBA and mainland China markets. The two-day intensive Market Discovery Programme will be held in Hong Kong on 6-7 November 2023, packed with seminars, tours and networking opportunities to connect entrepreneurs with experts, investors, corporate leaders as well as entrepreneurs with past success in expanding their business within the region. The by-invitation programme is free-of-charge and participants can experience a stay at the Science Park’s InnoCell smart living co-creation space to spark collaboration with Science Park’s I&T talents.
For details, please visit: www.hkstp.org/our-community/events-and-happenings/expand-in-china-with-confidence/
