The 38th Hong Kong-Japan and Japan-Hong Kong Committees Plenary Meeting was held in Hong Kong on 5 March 2019 with focus on potential collaboration in artificial intelligence, financial technology and smart cities.
(From left to right)
Ms Margaret Fong, Executive Director of HKTDC; Mr Victor Cha, Chairman of Hong Kong Committee, and Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of HKR International Ltd; Mr Victor Chu, Chairman, First Eastern Investment Group
More than 40 business leaders from Hong Kong and Japan took part in the 38th Hong Kong-Japan and Japan-Hong Kong Committees Plenary Meeting. Front row, from left: Ms Iris Wong, Director, Belt and Road & External Relations of HKTDC; Ms Margaret Fong, Executive Director of HKTDC; Mr Victor Cha, Chairman of Hong Kong Committee, and Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of HKR International Ltd; The Hon Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Mr Takayoshi Futae, Acting Chairman of Japan Committee, and Senior Managing Executive Officer of MUFG Bank; Ambassador Mitsuhiro Wada, Consul-General, Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong
The Hon Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region attended the Keynote Luncheon and delivered a speech.24 April 2019 – Innovation and technology that will drive the development of the Greater Bay Area were among the key messages at the 38th Plenary Session of the Hong Kong-Japan and Japan-Hong Kong Business Cooperation Committee (HKJBCC), held on 5 March.
More than 40 business leaders from Hong Kong and Japan attended the Plenary Session at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The meeting was co-chaired by Victor Cha, Chairman of the Hong Kong-Japan Business Co-operation Committee and Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of HKR International Ltd; and Takayoshi Futae, Acting Chairman of the Japan-Hong Kong Business Co-operation Committee, and Senior Managing Executive Officer of MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Hong Kong-Japan collaboration
In his opening address, Mr Cha highlighted the importance of Hong Kong-Japan collaboration. “Trade is central to both Hong Kong and Japan economies,” he said, “In 2018, Japan remained as Hong Kong’s fourth-largest trading partner.” Members were briefed on the latest economic and trade developments in Hong Kong, Japan and Mainland China.
Mr Futae, the Acting Chairman of the Japan-Hong Kong Business Co-operation Committee, said Hong Kong was a gateway to Mainland China for 1,400 Japanese businesses. With the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo and the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Mr Futae believed more Hong Kong tourists would visit Japan, helping build mutual understanding and strengthening economic exchanges.
Innovations and technology
Hong Kong Trade Development Council Deputy Director of Research Billy Wong offered an update about the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area – a collaborative cluster of 11 world-class cities around the Pearl River Delta in southern China. The strategy is designed to help develop Hong Kong’s capabilities as a technology hub for artificial intelligence (AI), fintech and smart city innovations, as well as a financial hub for global RMB transactions, asset and risk management.
Dr Sunny Chai, the Chairman of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), said Hong Kong had earmarked more than HK$100 billion in spending on innovation and technology in the past three years.
Experts in the fields of fintech, AI and smart city technologies offered their views on the latest developments in Hong Kong and Japan, together with the potential for collaborations generated by the opportunities.
On the subject of AI, Professor Tang, Founder of SenseTime Group, said: “We (SenseTime) have been working with Honda for the past almost three years with large project of US$100 million on developing autonomous driving technology.”
“We set up the Hitachi Innovation Centre at HKSTP,” said Mr Osamu Naito, Vice-President and Executive Officer of Hitachi. He added that many companies at HKSTP had discussed collaborations and he believed continuous communication with talented people would lead to innovation.
“Hong Kong will continue to introduce more advanced medical treatments and robotic for smart healthcare,” said Winnie Tang, the Founder and Honorary President of Smart City Consortium. “Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital selected Hitachi to supply two treatment proton beam therapy system which is one of the most advanced forms of cancer treatment. This signifies the strong collaboration between Hong Kong and Japan.”
Greater Bay Area
The Hon Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region spoke in detail about the city’s role as an international financial, transport and trade centre to the Greater Bay Area’s population of almost 70 million people.
The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, released on February 18, positioned Hong Kong as a centre for financing the high-tech industries situated around the Greater Bay Area.
The HKTDC serves as the secretariat for the Hong Kong-Japan Business Co-operation Committee, while the Japanese Business Federation (Keidanren) is the secretariat for the Japan-Hong Kong Business Co-operation Committee. The two committees will hold the 39th Plenary Session in Japan next year.