Packed agenda for the UK Tech Mission to Hong Kong
Veracity Trust Network’s Global CEO Nigel Bridges had a packed agenda last week as part of the UK Tech Mission to Hong Kong.
Running from October 21 to 25th, the week-long Mission saw the delegates being welcomed to an opening event by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and InvestHK London, among others.
Chris Woodward, Director General, Trade & Investment, and Stephanie Li, Associate Director, Science, Innovation and Technology, welcomed all the delegates to an event hosted at The British Consulate General.
Organised by Richard Lowe, Managing Director at Hewlett Rand, and founder of Tech Advocates West England, the UK Tech Mission to Hong Kong aims to build collaboration across tech ecosystems.
In an interesting twist, as part of an event hosted by Pitchflix, investors pitched to the audience about why they should look to them for investment. Each was given five minutes and some instructions. Nigel said: “Given that institutional investors usually give us a hard time by insist on us sticking to the time and answering the key points in the right order in a succinct manner (not too much detail, but enough…), seeing them having to do it was a joy to behold!”
On Tuesday, the UK Tech Mission to Hong Kong organised visits to the two major “tech landing places” – the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) and Cyberport.
Both are geared up for attracting tech companies to Hong Kong for growth and reach into the Greater Bay Area (GBA) with huge opportunities for incoming tech companies.
And on Wednesday, October 23rd, Nigel and the other delegates took part in the UK Tech Founders Showcase Event held at the luxurious Eaton Club where he gave a presentation on Veracity Trust Network’s use of AI and cybersecurity.
Phil McManus, Chair of the Innovation and Technology Committee at The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, spoke about how the mindset shift locally has been to smaller and smarter and slicker providers.
Hong Kong is ideal for tech startups, the city is trying to attract talent back and grow its own, and innovation is top of the agenda. He said: “It’s still a small town, everyone is connected, it’s still a different culture, people need to listen and adapt. Culture difference remains important and significant.”
But McManus added that Hong Kong is back. “After a ‘slow down’ due to Covid, the city is back in the world stage and looking to be the APAC HQ of choice. IPOs are back up, funders are back, and Hong Kong is in the sweet spot between east and west.”
Delegates also took part in exclusive events held as part of the StartmeupHK Festival an annual series curated by Invest Hong Kong and organised by external expert partners. These included conferences, exhibitions, pitching competitions, startup-investor matching as well as other networking activities.
On Thursday Nigel and the other delegates visited the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum which this year had the theme Innovation Challenger: Building New Venture Visions.
Nigel said: “It’s been a long time since I lived here – though a few visits since to re-acquaint myself. It has the same buzz and vibe as ever. A city that thrives on doing business and is at the leading edge of technology adoption, which is of course why we are here.”
