*******************************************************
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at the StartmeupHK Festival Launch Reception today (September 1):
Dear friends and members of the start-up, investors and business community,
Good evening. I am very excited to be here with you all to launch the 2016 StartmeupHK Festival.
The aim of the Festival in January 2016 is to attract innovation entrepreneurs and investors to Hong Kong, and to promote our city as the leading ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in Asia. The exciting week-long programme will feature several verticals where Hong Kong has a distinct advantage, namely, Consumer Internet of Things (IoT), Fintech, HealthTech, data analytics and e-commerce.
The StartmeupHK Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue experience for participants from the local and overseas start-up community. Delving into the future of entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation, the programme will feature keynotes, interactive how-to-sessions, powerful lessons from seasoned founders and investors, and pitch sessions from finalists of the Global Competition in Fintech and Consumer IoT organised by the respective Vertical Champions.
PMQ will be the epicenter of the Start-up Festival, where the three core events in Fintech, HealthTech and Consumer IoT will take place. Other than the Cube which will hold all key conferences, there will be a start-up village in the courtyard where participants can visit the start-up booths and listen to various pitches during the week.
I would like to encourage all of you to support and actively take part in the festival. It would be a terrific opportunity for you to engage with start-ups, investors and thought leaders from overseas and the Mainland who will be visiting Hong Kong during the week. We hope many of you will be able to broker fruitful alliances with these overseas stakeholders and create a win-win situation for you and your potential business partners.
The timing of this launch event and Start-up Festival could not be better. We have experienced phenomenal growth in our start-up ecosystem over the past couple of years. Take for example the number of co-working locations and accelerator programmes, this number has increased from three to 40 within just three to four years.
Invest Hong Kong has just completed its second annual survey with all co-working spaces and incubators in the city, and one number really stands out - the rapid increase in the number of start-ups. There are now 1 558 registered start-ups operating in these co-working spaces and incubators, representing an encouraging 46 per cent increase from the last round of survey.
This number, together with the fact that there are start-up-related events in the city almost every single day, demonstrates the rising participation of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors in Hong Kong's vibrant ecosystem.
Hong Kong has all the ingredients to support innovative start-ups, with globally scalable business models designed to succeed. Hong Kong is the ideal platform for idea generation and commercialisation of your products and services. Why? Because we ensure the fastest and most scalable "go to market" process. We offer a unique super-connector platform for innovators and start-ups worldwide to access funding, top-notch designers, electronic component manufacturers, incubation, accelerator and engineering services, R&D, state of the art supply chain management, just-in-time transport and global delivery and distribution services. Simply put, Hong Kong is the ideal showcase and global launch pad for your new businesses.
I very much look forward to an exciting evening with you all. We are all here to be part of an exciting journey, a journey to build our start-up ecosystem into a leading destination and hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Thank you.
Ends/Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:45
NNNN
