Speech by CS at Opening Ceremony of Learning and Teaching Expo 2026 (English only) (with photos/video)
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Mr Armstrong Lee (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hong Kong Education City), Dr David Wong (Chairman of the Education Commission), Dr Elizabeth Quat (Founder and Honorary President of the Smart City Consortium), Dr Winnie Tang (Founder and Honorary President of the Smart City Consortium), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It is a privilege to join you at the Opening Ceremony of the Learning and Teaching Expo 2026. On behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), I extend a very warm welcome to our global community of educators, innovators, policymakers, and digital education stakeholders who have gathered here today.
The theme of this year's event is "Reimagining Education: Human-Centric and Future-Ready", it captures our ambition perfectly. It aligns with our vision to make Hong Kong a premier international innovation and technology hub.
This is not just an economic goal. This is about our future. AI and emerging technologies are changing our world at lightning speed. To stay competitive and to prosper, we must move boldly. And we are.
The Hong Kong SAR Government is taking action on many fronts. We are building world-class I&T infrastructure. We are providing strategic funding to support growth. And we are building strong global partnerships to bring in the best talent and opportunities.
While technology builds the future, education builds the people who live in it. Technology without talent is meaningless. And talent, as all of you here know very well, does not emerge overnight. It is nurtured patiently.
What we need is an education that can nurture future-ready learners — young people who can navigate the digital world, who can solve problems, and who can handle new technologies wisely and responsibly. Ultimately, when we reimagine what education means in the AI era, we are also laying the very foundation that will power Hong Kong's future as a global technology hub.
That is why our strategy follows a powerful cycle. We grow technology through talent, we lead industries through technology, and we attract talent through industries. When education, technology, and talent move forward together, our city moves forward too — we build an unparalleled talent pool, we develop a richer knowledge reserve, and we strengthen our capabilities for scientific and technological innovation, lifting our competitiveness to new heights.
And I am pleased to let you know that our vision is already bearing fruit. Hong Kong now ranks third globally in "Technology" in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster remains the world's number one innovation cluster in the 2025 Global Innovation Index.
In 2024, we set up the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents to bring these policies closer together. Many of the Committee's key proposals were integrated into the 2025 Policy Address. And I am pleased to say we are already putting them into practice.
Universities and research institutions are the pillars of innovation. 5 universities in Hong Kong ranked among the world's top 100, and we also have 4 of the world's most internationalised universities. They conduct strong basic research, which serves as a crucial starting point for innovative scientific development.
To further consolidate our upstream strengths, our InnoHK Research Clusters initiative has attracted more than 30 top-notch universities and R&D institutes from 12 economies, bringing together some 3 000 outstanding I&T talents around the world to work side by side.
All these achievements hinge on one core asset — our people. And the expertise of our people starts with education. So the key question is: how do we equip our next generation for an age constantly reshaped by technology, especially AI?
Our Education Bureau has worked closely with the Curriculum Development Council to answer that question. The result is the Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools — launched just last week. It is the product of countless professional conversations, with principals, with frontline teachers, with experts from our universities and our technology sector. It reflects our commitment to Hong Kong's future.
And its heart is a simple yet powerful message: cultivating values through education, keeping our students as the foundation, and using technology as the support. And this is what the word "Human-centric" in this year's Expo theme means to us in practice.
The Blueprint offers a clear roadmap for every school, every teacher, and every student to excel in the digital age — not by simply using more technology, but by using it wisely, ethically, and creatively.
It focuses on four key areas: nurturing talents with both digital literacy and humanistic qualities; strengthening teacher training to drive digital transformation of education; optimising infrastructure to build smart campuses; and promoting cross-sector collaboration to co-create a digital education ecosystem.
In the short-to-medium term, we aim to achieve AI education for all students across all schools, progressively reaching the goal of comprehensively enhancing all students' AI literacy.
To deliver this ambition, we need strong partners. Hong Kong Education City has firmly established itself as a premier digital learning hub, empowering our teachers and students with cutting-edge tools and high-quality educational content. It acts as the bridge that carries technology from policy into real practice.
Let me end where it all truly begins. The path to becoming a leading I&T hub is paved in our classrooms. When we invest in our teachers and when we empower our students with future-ready skills, we are building the foundation for a vibrant, innovative, and sustainable Hong Kong.
So to the teachers, the innovators and the officials with us this morning, the future you are helping to shape is already taking root right here, right now. I wish you all a rewarding and inspiring Expo. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, June 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 10:35
Issued at HKT 10:35
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