A government-led delegation of 20 European technology entrepreneurs and innovators has completed a five-day tour of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with participants identifying healthcare, biotechnology, medicine and robotics as promising areas. Their comments pointed to possible future business links, but stopped short of announcing investments or relocations.
The visit was designed to show how those opportunities work in practice. The delegation toured major technology hubs, visited the Northern Metropolis and met local research institutions in Hong Kong before exchanging views with startups at Cyberport on the final day.
Cem Deniz Araz, a German physician and chief executive of a startup developing an artificial-intelligence medical assistant, said Hong Kong offered opportunities beyond its better-known financial sector, particularly in healthcare. He said his company was concentrating on Germany at this early stage, although it might consider establishing a Hong Kong presence as a subsidiary in future.
Aleksandr Gorbunov, a Russian co-founder of an AI startup, was struck by the scale and sophistication of the region’s biotechnology, medical and robotics industries. He said he planned to launch robotics projects in Europe and would consider moving manufacturing to the Greater Bay Area in future.
The delegation included winners of a technology competition co-organised in Germany by Hong Kong Talent Engage and the EuroTech Federation, alongside representatives of the federation. Hong Kong presented the tour as a way to help younger overseas innovators assess the region and consider how their technology might be developed there.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun, who joined part of the Cyberport visit, said Hong Kong would continue attracting talent as an international hub within the Greater Bay Area. In remarks reported by i-CABLE News, he said renewals under the talent programme must meet conditions involving work or starting a business in Hong Kong, and that there was therefore no need to set a ceiling on the programme.