This Sept 21, 2022 photo shows (front row, from seventh left) Consul-General of Vietnam in Hong Kong, Pham Binh Dam; Consul-General of Japan in Hong Kong, Kenichi Okada; Chairman of the Hong Kong Coalition of Professional Services, Lau Ping-cheung; Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu; founding chairman of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, Dr Jonathan Choi; Head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macao, Thomas Gnocchi; and Consul General of the State of Israel in Hong Kong, Amir Lati, attend the the 3rd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs Award Ceremony in Hong Kong on Sept 21, 2022. (PHOTO / INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT, HKSAR)
The third awards ceremony of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs kickstarted on Wednesday.
With 102 youth entrepreneurs, mainly from the technology and innovation industry, as awardees, Hong Kong’s potential for becoming the regional technology and innovation hub is underscored.
The ceremony was organized by Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, established in 2017 by more than 200 industrial and commercial enterprises in the city-cluster area.
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This year, the business union received over 1,000 applications. The list was finally whittled down to 102 youth entrepreneurs from the Greater Bay Area, who were awarded in six major categories: youth entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, business services, social responsibility, and cultural creativity.
This year, the union has selected foreign awardees for the first time, who have developed their business in the Greater Bay Area.
Jonathan Choi, Chairman, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union
Major political heavyweights attended the online and offline ceremony, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Guangdong government’s Vice-governor Zhang Xin and Macao SAR’s Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai-nong.
“The building of the Greater Bay Area is the vital development strategy of the nation’s reform and opening-up in the new era. For facilitating Hong Kong’s youth to grasp the development opportunities, the special administrative region’s government has introduced financial subsidy schemes to support youth in the Greater Bay Area to embark the entrepreneurship journey,” Lee said at the ceremony.
“This year, more youth entrepreneurs from the sectors of technology and innovation, advanced manufacturing, medical technology and green energy won the award, underscoring the overall trend of cementing a world-class technology and innovation industry in the Greater Bay Area,” said Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and chairman of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union.
In addition, there were other awardees from the housekeeping services, precision medical services and green energy industries, demonstrating the new market demand for commercial services in the Greater Bay Area.
Chief Executive John Lee speaks at the 3rd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs Award Ceremony to Sept 21, 2022. (PHOTO / INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT, HKSAR)
“This year, the union has selected foreign awardees for the first time, who have developed their business in the Greater Bay Area. They were recommended by consulates and foreign chambers in Hong Kong, which proves the city-cluster area has an excellent business environment and opportunities for young talents coming from all over the world,” Choi added.
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Youth entrepreneurs from Germany, Israel and Canada won awards, from various industry sectors, including supply-chain technologies, intelligent lighting systems, and semiconductors and biotechnology, reflecting the fact that the awards are becoming more internationalized.