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SCED's closing remarks at Invest Hong Kong's StartmeupHK Venture Forum 2014 (English only) (with photos)
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     Following are the closing remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at Invest Hong Kong's StartmeupHK Venture Forum 2014 today (November 11):

     Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to first congratulate again the three Grand Award winners and the three Special Award winners, and thank the other winners, especially those from overseas, for joining us in Hong Kong this week.

     We have seen very high quality in the pitches today, and I am amazed by the winners' innovative and creative ideas, as well as their entrepreneurial passion in turning these ideas into reality. That is exactly what we want in our economy. Business creativity can certainly act as a catalyst to re-shape and reinforce the home-grown startup culture in Hong Kong.

     The results of this year's competition are really encouraging. We have 550 entries from 47 economies, compared to 384 entries from 39 economies in the previous year.

     My thanks and congratulations go to Invest Hong Kong for this, its second StartmeupHK Venture Programme. The department has been very effective in raising awareness overseas of Hong Kong's efforts to build a thriving startup ecosystem. In fact, Hong Kong is the fastest- growing regional startup hub for scalable ventures run by founders with a global vision.

     I would also like to thank the judges and assessors, our esteemed speakers, the programme ambassadors and sponsors, all the business and finance professionals and startup community stakeholders present for taking part and, in particular, for voting for the winners. It must have been a very tough job to choose the winners from such a pool of exceptional talent.

     Your commitment to our Venture Programme is a vote of confidence in Hong Kong's emerging role as one of the world's fastest-growing hubs for global entrepreneurs and startups.

     In years to come, I hope that many of you who are founding startups based in Hong Kong will become global brands. Our Invest Hong Kong has set up a new Startup team to engage with overseas and local startup communities so as to offer entrepreneurs more tailored assistance. I am sure they will have a lot more work to do, and our colleagues in the department will give of their best to make Hong Kong the leading startup hub in the Asia Pacific and help startups succeed.

     Let me conclude by congratulating the winners again, and thanking you all for your participation today.

     Thank you.

Ends/Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Issued at HKT 20:02

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