On April 19th, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AMTD Group Company and AMTD Foundation jointly launch Hong Kong’s first university-industry collaborated Financial Technology (FinTech) centre. The launch ceremony was held in PolyU.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), AMTD Group Company and AMTD Foundation jointly launch Hong Kong’s first university-industry collaborated Financial Technology (FinTech) centre. The launch ceremony of the Centre on PolyU campus was officiated by Mr. Nicholas W. Yang, GBS, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Dr. Annie Wu, SBS, JP, former Standing Committee Member of CPPCC, Lifetime Honorary Board Member of the World Trade Centres Association and Chairperson of the Global Advisory Committee of AMTD Group, also attended and witnessed the ceremony. Other attended guests included: Ms. Wang Yanxia, Deputy Director General of Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, Prof Witman Hung, JP Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, Mr. Tony Liu, President of The Listed Companies Council, Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association.
Mr. Nicholas W. Yang, GBS, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in his speech, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region proposed in its latest policy address to promote Hong Kong to become an international innovation and technology centre. Among which, one of the focuses is the development and innovation of the FinTech industry. I am delighted to see that Hong Kong-based financial institution AMTD Group have set a precedent for cross-border cooperation among industry and academia by collaborating with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to establish Hong Kong’s first school-enterprise collaboration FinTech centre “AMTD FinTech Centre of the PolyU Faculty of Business”. I hope that both parties can work closely to contribute to the development of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology, and the cultivation of FinTech talent, to further enhance Hong Kong’s leading position in the innovation and technology market, especially in the FinTech field.
PolyU President Professor Timothy W. Tong, JP, Chairman and President of AMTD Group, Calvin Choi, Chairman of AMTD Foundation, Marcellus Wong and Director of AMTD Fintech Centre, Professor Wilson H.S. Tong together unveiled the “AMTD FinTech Centre of PolyU Faculty of Business”. Addressing at the ceremony, PolyU President Professor Timothy W. Tong thanked AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation for its generous donations and trust in PolyU. By pooling together the strengths of AMTD — a world-leading financial institution, and PolyU — a university excels in nurturing talents and research, he has confidence that the FinTech Centre would be able to achieve the shared vision: to better equip Hong Kong as an international and leading Fintech centre in the world. “I believe that our partnership will further promote collaborations among academia, industry, and government, and contribute to the Fintech development of Hong Kong and beyond.”
Mr. Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group said, “AMTD, as a Hong Kong-based financial institution with a global vision, has always been committed to promoting the long-term development of FinTech in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and across the globe, with particular emphasis on talent cultivation. Through the collaboration of AMTD and PolyU, the AMTD FinTech Centre of PolyU Faculty of Business will significantly contribute to the development and talent cultivation of FinTech in the Greater Bay Area. At the same time, AMTD FinTech Centre, as the first industry-university collaborated Fintech centre, will improve the exchange between the industry and the academia, encourage the research and practice of innovative technology and promote the innovation and development of Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area”.
At the 80th anniversary of PolyU in December 2017, with Ms. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong Wai-lun, Secretary for Development, Mr Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Nicholas W. Yang, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, Secretary for Education, Mr Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment, Professor Sophia Chan, Secretary for Food and Health and Mr. Carlson Tong, Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission as witnesses, AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation and PolyU officially co-signed a strategic partnership agreement to jointly establish the “AMTD FinTech Centre”, to jointly promote the research and development of FinTech and support the cultivation and education of the innovative talents. During World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, AMTD Foundation and PolyU have agreed on the details of the partnership and made further improvements on the program to cover the fields of academic exchange, industry-university collaboration, talent cultivation and career training. In less than 4 months, the teams on both sides work closely with each other to successfully implement the project and officially launch the Centre.
The FinTech Centre will conduct FinTech related research, consultancy and training projects for the financial industry, provide support to start-ups, facilitate exchanges among local, the Chinese mainland and overseas experts, and offer FinTech education for students, financial personnel, and the public. In addition to the around 200 academics of PolyU Faculty of Business specialized in key disciplines of business (accounting, finance, management, marketing, logistics, and transport), the FinTech Centre will also have cross-disciplinary support from experts of other PolyU faculties/departments including computing, engineering, and applied mathematics. Moreover, it will have a strong backup from the industry led by AMTD Group. The many PolyU alumni and post-graduate students who are also entrepreneurs or key executives in FinTech and related sectors will also become the centre’s valuable assets. Such network from the industry and academic will support the long-term operation, education and research of the FinTech Centre with extensive industry resources, aiming to further promote the development of Hong Kong’s technological innovation, especially in FinTech arena. Meanwhile, the AMTD FinTech Centre will lead the innovative technology and research in Hong Kong to engage in the exchange, education, and research in Mainland by establishing branches or centres in Mainland. The Centre will carry out the academic exchange, university-industry collaboration and curriculum development with Mainland institutions, universities and enterprises to support the training, research and technology industry in Greater Bay Area and across the country and to promote the development of Greater Bay Area.
Professor Wilson Tong, Director of the FinTech Centre, who is also PolyU’s Professor of Finance, said that Hong Kong is concentrating its resources and efforts on the development of FinTech. AMTD has engaged in rapid development in FinTech with fruitful outcomes. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is pleased to keep abreast of the tide of development of the times and to work hand in hand with AMTD the advancement of FinTech and to lay the foundation for the long-term development of Hong Kong’s FinTech industry and cultivate outstanding talents.
AMTD has always attached great importance to technological innovation and innovative power. The Group is committed to the “super-contact” role between the fields of technology and capital and between the leading FinTech companies, Internet technology companies and Asian capital markets. Besides the FinTech Centre of PolyU, AMTD jointly established “AMTD-University of Waterloo Innovation Hub” with the University of Waterloo to advance the Waterloo.ai Alpha project. Moreover, in the past 2 years, AMTD has hosted many FinTech-related major conferences and events sparing no efforts to promote technological development and innovation. AMTD jointly held “2017 Singapore FinTech Festival”, the biggest global FinTech event with Monetary Authority of Singapore, hosted “AMTD-LendIt Global FinTech Investment Summit” in Hong Kong for consecutively 2 years and jointly held “FinTalks CEO Summit” with Dianrong, FinEX Asia and UOB in Hong Kong, Taipei and Singapore. Further, AMTD has yielded fruitful results in innovation and technology investments. AMTD strategically invested in Royole, global industry leader of flexible display, tactile sensing, virtual reality and relevant intelligent hardware, partnered with Standard Chartered to strategically buy in the company Dianrong, a Chinese FinTech Company established by Soul Htite, joint founder of Lending Club, assisted Dianrong in introducing renowned international institutional investors including GIC and joint hands with Dianrong to successfully incubate the FinTech market platform FinEX Asia. AMTD also cooperated with Singapore Economic Development Board, Japan Softbank and Line to invest in Appier, a leading global AI tech company which was praised as “50 enterprises that lead the global AI revolution” by Fortune magazine. AMTD assisted in the IPO of Meitu in HKEX, a leading Chinese mobile Internet company triggering a new wave of “tech stocks” in Hong Kong’s capital markets. Furthermore, the technology and innovation investment portfolio include UCAR, a leading Chinese internet transportation company, Youche.com, a leading Chinese second-hand car trading platform, Credible Labs, a U.S. based Internet financial company listed in Australia and Peachjar, a U.S. based global education service company.