Similar to just about every other annual event, InvestHK transitioned to a virtual event for this year’s StartmeupHK Festival. According to a release by the organizers, the event went quite well as it apparently attracted over 181,000 attendees in the midst of the COVID-19 health crisis.
InvestHK states that during the week-long event 471 speakers from 97 countries and territories participated. The Festival featured 199 exhibitors.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Carrie Lam addressed the event outlining the government’s roadmap for startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at a segment organized by WHub.
Paul Chan, Financial Secretary, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, commented on Hong Kong’s resilience while in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chan said that despite the many challenges Hong Kong has faced it remains a popular jurisdiction for listing shares:
“I have no doubt that we’ll be in the running again this year, despite the turbulence out there. After all, Hong Kong has become a much sought-after place for secondary listing of Chinese companies,” said Chan. “Just ask video-game developer NetEase and e-commerce retailer JD.com, both of which listed in Hong Kong last month, following in the welcome wake of tech giant Alibaba’s secondary listing here last November.”
Of note, is the fact that Ant Group (formerly Ant Financial) recently announced it would list shares in Hong Kong, perhaps becoming the largest Fintech ever to publicly float shares.
Hong Kong has long promoted the jurisdiction as innovation-friendly and a gateway to mainland China. It has also emerged as a top Fintech hub in the region. InvestHK has previously stated that 48 of the world’s leading Fintech companies operate in Hong Kong. It will be interesting to see how the Festival is presented in 2021. Perhaps a hybrid in-person/virtual gathering?