Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto)

The Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Mr Bill Wong, concluded a business visit to British Columbia last week, promoting deeper collaboration between Hong Kong and Canada in innovation and technology, business development as well as academic exchanges.

Mr Wong participated in the “Hong Kong–Metro Vancouver Innovation Exchange 2026” on March 24 co-hosted by HKETO, Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) in Canada and Invest Vancouver. The inaugural event held in hybrid mode attracted the participation of some 200 entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem partners from Hong Kong and Metro Vancouver to explore opportunities in emerging technologies and cross-border business expansion. It featured panel discussions and networking sessions highlighting how the two economies foster innovation through government support measures, funding initiatives and collaboration with industry partners.

Speaking at the event, Mr Wong highlighted Hong Kong’s role as a global business hub and a gateway to Asia. He noted that Hong Kong’s solid research and development capability, world-class technology infrastructure, and a vast pool of technology talents make it an ideal platform for young and creative Canadian companies looking to scale their I&T businesses in the region. He also noted that the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, the Cyberport, and the newly opened Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park provide comprehensive support to start-ups, including funding and investor matching as well as mentorship and market development.

While in the Okanagan region between March 26 and 27, Mr Wong visited the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus to deepen higher education collaboration and promote the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.

Mr Wong joined a panel discussion titled “The Okanagan – Hong Kong Innovation Corridor: A Dialogue on Opportunity and Collaboration”, where he introduced the measures of the HKSAR Government to enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international education hub, in particular the flagship research initiative, the InnoHK Clusters which aim at attracting global top institutions to collaborate with Hong Kong universities to set up research centres.

The visit also included a business networking session with the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, providing an opportunity for local business leaders to learn more about Hong Kong’s business environment and its advantages as a regional headquarters for companies expanding into Asia.

In his keynote speech, Mr Wong said China recently approved its new 15^th Five-Year Plan to set out its action agenda for social and economic development in the next five years.  Hong Kong is featured in multiple provisions in the plan, and is actively formulating our own Five-Year Plan to drive Hong Kong’s deeper integration into the overall national development and leverage the opportunities brought about by the Mainland’s plan.

“Hong Kong stands ready to create more opportunities and will continue to act as the gateway to the Chinese Mainland market.  When Canadian companies need a stable and high-growth launchpad in Asia, they must look to Hong Kong,” he said.

The above activities are collaborative initiatives of HKETO, Invest Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council through the Economic and Trade Express platform.

During the four-day visit, Mr Wong also met with representatives of various organisations and business associations, including the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission and the Vancouver Airport Authority to discuss opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas such as innovation and technology, entrepreneurship and investment promotion.