Guests of a local youth forum highlighted the enormous opportunities arising from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the technology, finance and culture and sports sectors, and called on Hong Kong’s young minds to build strength and courage to forge their way ahead. They shared the insights at the “Gathering Young Talent, Making a Difference” GBA Youth Development Forum 2022 on Monday. Co-organized by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation and the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, the event attracted more than 700 young people, including high school students and undergraduates. Delivering a speech at the event, Daryl Ng Win-kong, chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, who has been involved in youth affairs for many years, said the Greater Bay Area has huge development potential. More and more high-level cooperation platforms, such as Qianhai in Shenzhen, Nansha in Guangzhou, and the Northern-Metropolis in Hong Kong, provide wide support in entrepreneurial services, including funding, training, and exchange opportunities. With favorable policies offered by Chinese mainland cities, and deepening intercity traffic links in the region, Ng said the Greater Bay Area presents Hong Kong young people with “unprecedented” development opportunities to build their dreams. Officiating at the event, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Erick Tsang Kwok-wai cited President Xi Jinping’s July 1 speech that the development of a nation is inseparable from focusing on youth, gathering talents and seeking innovation. He noted that the Greater Bay Area blueprint is a major national development strategy of reform and opening-up in a new era, and encouraged young people of Hong Kong to keep an open mind, equip themselves and seize opportunities in the promising cluster. With the nation’s support, young people will have enormous opportunities to realize their dreams with a view to making a contribution to the nation, serving Hong Kong, and becoming pillars of the world, Tsang said. Echoing Tsang’s words, Zhang Zhihua, director general of the Department of Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said he hopes that all Hong Kong community sectors can make use of the promising platform of the Greater Bay Area to nurture local youths and help the underprivileged by providing internship and employment opportunities. The forum, which featured three themed panel discussions held both online and on-site, brought together youth leaders to share their views on how the continuous development of the Greater Bay Area will benefit Hong Kong youngsters in the technology, finance and cultural and sports areas. Speaking during the panel discussion on “New Realm of Innovative Technology”, Hendrick Sin, the co-founder, executive director and vice-chairman of CMGE Technology Group Ltd, shared his entrepreneurial journey and introduced the preferential measures that have been launched by local authorities in the Greater Bay Area, such as business incubation schemes and venture funds. Particularly upbeat about the future of mobile games and esports developments, he said he hopes Hong Kong and Guangdong province can deepen collaboration on related talent cultivation and form an esports ecological chain. He also encouraged Hong Kong to tap into the fresh opportunities in the metaverse and non-fungible tokens and establish its own advantages. Cindy Chow, executive director of Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, noted that Hong Kong’s position as a financial center remains strong. She said she hopes that the government will provide more support to enable startups to develop better in the Greater Bay Area. Startup leaders also need to have the courage and innovative thinking to adapt their product positioning to the changing environment. Kenneth Fok, member of the Legislative Council in the Functional Constituency for Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication, said that to further Hong Kong’s mission of developing into a global cultural hub, the Asian culture widely accepted by the global market is something that Hong Kong can explore and leverage. Young people in Hong Kong can make good use of the city’s convergence of Chinese and Western cultures to better tell Chinese stories, he noted.

【Press Release】 [HONG KONG, 24 OCTOBER 2022] Organised by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, co-organised by HKET Holdings and the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, the “Gathering Young Talent, Making a Difference” GBA Youth Development Forum 2022 (‘the Forum”) was held today at the Conrad Hotel. Bringing together youth leaders from across Hong Kong, the Forum highlighted opportunities in the GBA for young people in the fields of innovation and technology, fintech, culture and sports. More than 700 young people, including high school students and undergraduates attended (also through online) to learn about pursuing a career or further studies in the Greater Bay Area, where they can fulfil their true potential. Officiating at the Forum were Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Zhang Zhihua, Director General of the Department of Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Daryl Ng Win-kong, Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation (Deputy Chairman of Sino Group), Dr Hu Zhanghong, JP, CEO of Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments Limited and Director of the Financial Services Development Council, and Ms Salome See Sau-mei, Group Managing Director of Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings and Managing Director of ET Net. Other guests attended were Mr Kenneth Fok, Executive Vice Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation (Member of the Legislative Council, Vice President of the Fok Ying Tung Group), and Vice Chairmen of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation included Mr Adam Kwok (Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited), Mr Christopher Kwok (Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited), Mr Alex Yeung (Vice Chairman of Emperor Group) and Mr Calvin Choi (Chairman of AMTD Group), as well as Mr Vincent Yu, Managing Director of China Merchants Capital and Mr Yang Bin, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation. Guest speakers who delivered keynote speeches: (In no particular order) 1. Mr Hendrick Sin, Co-founder, Executive Director and Vice Chairman of CMGE Technology Group Limited 2. Mr Michael Li, Co-founder & Director of Titanology Limited 3. Mr Stark Chan, Founder of Bull.B Technology Limited 4. Mr Eric Yeung, Founding President of Esports Association Hong Kong 5. Ms Cindy Chow, Executive Director of Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund 6. Mr Tat Lee, Chief Executive & Executive Director of WeLab Bank 7. Mr Winston Wong, Co-founder & CEO of Qupital 8. Mr Fred Ngan, Co-founder, Co-CEO and Director of Bowtie Life Insurance Company Limited 9. Mr Kenneth Fok, Member of the Legislative Council (Functional Constituency - Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication) 10. Mr Mathias Woo, Artistic cum Executive Director, Zuni Icosahedron, Convener of the “HK Belt Road City to City Cultural Exchange Conference” 11. Mr William Keong, Executive Director of Manner Culture Limited 12. Ms Prudence Mak, Founder & Creative Director of Chocolate Rain 13. Ms Vincci Hui, Former Olympian for Hong Kong Triathlon; 2-time Olympic Games TV Program Host and Commentator The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, GBS,IDSM,JP said, "President Xi Jinping, speaking in Hong Kong on July 1, highlighted the importance of our young people, said, ‘Hong Kong will prosper only when its young people thrive; Hong Kong will develop only when its young people achieve well-rounded development, and Hong Kong will have a bright future only when its young people have good prospects’. The development of a nation is inseparable from focusing on youth, gathering talents and seeking innovation. The theme of today's forum, ‘Gathering Young Talents, Making a Difference’, echoes President Xi's call for young people: strive for innovation, develop a strong sense of responsibility, and contribute to the future of Hong Kong and our nation.” Mr Tsang hopes that young people become a new generation who loves Hong Kong and our nation, and participate actively in the integration with the overall development of the nation. Young people should make use of the advantages of "one country, two systems" in creating a bigger stage for development. He also encouraged young people to keep an open mind, equip themselves and seize opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. With the nation's support, young people will have enormous opportunities to realise their dreams with a view to making contribution to the nation, serving Hong Kong, and becoming pillars of the world. Mr Zhang Zhihua, Director General of the Department of Youth Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, put forward three propositions in his speech: “Firstly, I hope Hong Kong youth can seize the GBA development opportunities and build it up together. By unleashing their potential in a bigger stage, this helps them to step into the world platform; Secondly, I hope that all community sectors will care about the youth, make use of the greater platform of GBA to nurture them and help the underprivileged by providing internship and employment opportunities; Finally, I hope young people will seize the opportunities to integrate into the nation's development and build their dreams in the GBA.” Mr Daryl Ng Win-kong, Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, said, “The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area issued by the Central Government in 2019 has made the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the ‘GBA’) a national strategy. With its enormous potential for growth, the GBA offers unprecedented opportunities for Hong Kong Youth. The National 14th Five Year Plan has supported the development of Hong Kong into ‘eight centres’ capitalising on its strengths. Through today’s Forum ‘Gathering Young Talent, Making a Difference’, we provided an interactive platform to discuss and promote the continuous development of society. Young people are the future of our society, our Foundation will continue to support and nurture Hong Kong youth to become the pivotal forces in the development of the Greater Bay Area.” Topic 1 - New Realm of Innovative Technology – Fintech Talent to Embrace Enormous Opportunities The rapid development of the GBA has opened up a broader space for young people to seize new development opportunities. Young people interested in innovative technology should adopt professional, candid, pragmatic, and change-oriented attitudes, make good use of the resources provided in the GBA, and industrialise their innovations in a creative and entrepreneurial environment. This Forum allowed young entrepreneurs to better understand the policies and preferential measures available to them in the GBA, such as an incubation programmes and venture capital funds. Topic 2 - New Era in Finance – Digital Technology and Innovation in Financial Services Digital technology is driving innovation in global financial services, changing business models and users' expectations. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong offers a unique environment, backed by Mainland China and open to the world. Hong Kong should leverage on its strengths, for further development in financial technology to create more opportunities for young people. Speakers encouraged young people interested in finance or information technology to use their knowledge in finance, information, operation and management to become the new generation of Fintech talent. Topic 3 - New Perspectives on Culture and Sports - Promote the Diversified and Integrated Development of Culture and Sports As an international city in the GBA, Hong Kong has an important role to play in the development of culture and sports through the integration of hardware, software and ‘heartware’. This panel discussion focused on how Hong Kong can position itself in the GBA to promote the development of cultural and sports industries, to inspire young people and create diversified opportunities for them. Accelerating the two-way exchange of cultural and sports talent between Hong Kong and the Mainland, Hong Kong can become a cultural exchange centre between East and West. Today’s Forum provided an interactive platform for youth leaders from different sectors to discuss the important role of Hong Kong in the Greater Bay Area. During their discussions, they shared their views on how the continuous development of the region would benefit Hong Kong youth by allowing them to widen their perspectives, achieve their personal goals and contribute to the sustainable growth of the community. The Forum ended with very positive responses.