Search Menu
Language Menu
Mobile Menu
OGCIO
28-09-2017

Opening Keynote Address by Ir Allen Yeung, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, at the “CAHK Business Luncheon Series 2017 - FinTech Forum - Topic: Secured Cloud Unified Communications Enabled Financial Services On The Go” (with photos)


Stephen (Ho), Kelvin (Beadle), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Today, technology is transforming business in all fronts. Some call this digital transformation. In China, it is called Internet+. For the financial sector, one new area of development is FinTech which is taking shape not just for start-ups, but also embraced by big financial institutes. Applications of FinTech include digital currencies, means to reduce KYCs and AMLs, online and mobile securities using biometrics, P2P lending over mobile platform, cashless transactions, etc.

Hong Kong has a strong case to foster FinTech development for three reasons:

  • The financial services industry in Hong Kong is one of the pillars of our economy, contributing 18% of our GDP with an employment population of over 250 000 people. We attracted world’s top 100 financial institutes here.
  • HKSE’s market cap is 7 times our GDP. By the end of next year, Hong Kong’s Internet global connection will reach 200Tbps, which is 5 times our domestic needs. What do these figures mean? First is trust. Investors have great confidence in Hong Kong. Secondly, our digital connectivity is not only serving Hong Kong, but also the entire region.
  • We accumulated great momentum in FinTech startups. Over the past 3 years, Cyberport has assembled 200 FinTech startups, making it the FinTech base for Hong Kong. Between 2014 and 2016, FinTech companies raised around US$400M VC money, but just this year, Cyberport’s incubatee, TNG, raised over US$100M in its A round.

As you all know, the Government has engaged a consultant to develop Smart City Blueprint. The report was made available in June. There are several recommendations related to FinTech development. Let me illustrate a few of them.

  • Under Smart Living, it is suggested to further develop Hong Kong as a cashless society. HKMA is to develop the Fast Payment System which will facilitate more convenient P2P payment and use of digital payments.
  • Another key digital infrastructure is to develop digital persona, where each resident will be given an eID to facilitate online authentication and transactions.
  • Under Smart Economy, FinTech is identified as one important sector to develop.

I am sure today’s Forum will provide more insights in building Hong Kong as a FinTech base. I wish you all an enjoyable luncheon. Thank you.

- ENDS -