Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, joined the “GreenTech Opportunities in Hong Kong for Canadian Companies” webinar co-hosted by the HKETO, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (Toronto), Invest Hong Kong (Canada) and Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Toronto Section) on August 24.
This webinar, supported by the Government of Canada, aimed to provide invaluable insights into the Hong Kong green tech market and funding opportunities available in the city, as well as the windows of opportunity to leverage prominent environment protection events like Eco Expo Asia and International GreenTech Week.
In delivering opening remarks at the webinar, Ms Mo first noted the close relations between Hong Kong and Canada. “Hong Kong’s prime location in Asia, bilingual common law system, rule of law, low and simple tax system, strong government and global professional support are the unique business advantages offered to Canadian companies,” she said. “Hong Kong and Canada also share the same goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
Over the years, Hong Kong has been exploring various solutions to combat climate change, including seeking more zero-carbon energy, adopting energy-saving technologies, promoting the wider use of e-vehicles and green building, and enhancing waste reduction and recycling.
“Hong Kong established the Green Tech Fund in 2020 with about 65 million Canadian dollars,” Ms Mo said. “The Innovation and Technology Fund also provides numerous financial support and resources to the relevant businesses. There are over 100 green-tech companies and startups operating in our incubators such as the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park and Cyberport. These incubators always welcome overseas companies to settle in Hong Kong.”
Ms Mo highlighted that Hong Kong is not only a hub for green tech, but also a prominent player in the green finance ecosystem. “Hong Kong is one of the world’s largest green bond markets,” she said. “We have issued a tokenized green bond and over 57 billion US dollars in green and sustainable debts in 2021.” She added that there is a strong presence of global institutional investors looking for green investment opportunities, thus creating opportunities also for internationally-recognized agencies for green certificates.
Ms Mo stressed that enormous opportunities are posed by the requirement of ESG reporting and the huge demand for green projects and green financing in the Mainland China. There is strong pull factor for global investors to set up ESG-related businesses via Hong Kong. The changing consumption behavior also plays a key role in driving green tech developments.
Before closing, Ms Mo encouraged participants to join the Canadian GreenTech Mission to Eco Expo Asia or make use of HKETO’s support services offered by IHK.
香港經貿處處長參與網上研討會推廣香港的綠色科技機遇
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於八月二十四日出席由香港經貿處、香港貿易發展局多倫多辦事處、香港投資推廣署加拿大辦事處及港加商會（多倫多分會）合辦、向加拿大企業推廣香港綠色科技機遇的網上研討會。
該研討會獲加拿大政府支持，旨在提供有關香港綠色科技市場及資助的資訊，並介紹如何善用大型環保推廣活動（例如國際環保博覽及國際綠色科技周等）所提供的機遇。
巫菀菁為研討會致開幕辭，她指出加港兩地關係密切，並說：「香港在亞洲享有優越地利、雙語普通法法制、優良法治、簡單低稅制、強健政府體制及國際級專業支援，為加拿大企業提供獨特的營商優勢，加港兩地亦同樣有要在二○五○年前實現碳中和的共同目標。」
多年來，香港一直努力研究各種方案應對氣候變化，包括尋找更多零碳能源、採用省能科技、鼓勵更廣泛使用電動車，以及推廣減廢和回收。
巫菀菁說：「香港在二○二○年設立相當於6,500萬加元的低碳綠色科研基金，創新及科技基金亦為相關企業提供龐大財政支援及資源。現時，共有過百間綠色科技企業及初創公司在香港科學園及數碼港等科研培育基地營運，這些科研園地將繼續歡迎海外企業落戶香港。」
巫菀菁又強調，香港不只是綠色科技樞紐，亦在綠色金融生態系統中擔當關鍵角色。她指出：「香港是全球最大的綠色債券市場之一，我們已發出代幣化綠色債券，在二○二一年發出的綠色和可持續債券已逾570億美元 。」她補充指，許多全球機構投資者正尋找綠色投資機會，因而亦為國際認可、能簽發環保認證的機構創造機遇。
巫菀菁強調指環境、社會及管治（ESG）報告的要求及中國內地對綠色項目和綠色金融的巨大需求創造了龐大機遇，因而成為全球投資者經香港建立ESG相關業務的強大誘因。此外，消費模式改變亦是推動綠色科技發展的一個主因。
最後，巫菀菁鼓勵與會者加入Canadian GreenTech Mission參加國際環保博覽，或善用香港經貿處由香港投資推廣署提供的支援服務。
