UAE Delegation visits Hong Kong Science Park during Belt and Road Summit to Unlock New Cooperation and Development Opportunities in I&T

(Hong Kong, 15 September 2023) - The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) welcomed an official United Arab Emirates (UAE) delegation led by the Minister of Economy marking a milestone in the Golden Age for Middle East and Hong Kong relations and further deepening the collaboration between Hong Kong Innovation and Technology ecosystem with Middle East.

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, was in Hong Kong to attend the two-day Belt and Road Summit and visited the Science Park as part of his itinerary. The visit follows an earlier delegation in February to the UAE led by Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee and attended by HKSTP Chairman, Dr Sunny Chai.

The accompanying delegation, which includes representatives of  the UAE’s private sector, visited InnoHK’s Multi Scale Medical Robotics Center, as well as the Science Park’s Experience Centre. They met with senior executives from HKSTP including Dr Chai and CEO, Albert Wong to discuss how new doors can be opened for tech ventures as well as explore mutually beneficial development opportunities.

The delegation met with companies from the Science Park and its alumni network with interest in expanding into the UAE. The companies include Cornerstone Robotics, FJ Dynamics, Floship, FreeD, Lalamove, Meat the Next, Prenetics, Rice Robotics, SenseTime and Smartmore. Selected companies also had separate discussions with Emirati corporates that have expressed interest in potential partnerships.

Ir Dr HL Yiu, Chief Corporate Development Officer at HKSTP, said, “Innovation and technology is relentless. This is why HKSTP is committed to harnessing its resources to build bridges for tech ventures to pave way to blue ocean opportunities and long-term success. The UAE is a cosmopolitan and digitally progressive market that offers incredible expansion opportunities, while Hong Kong is an international innovation and finance hub that can help accelerate the journey from start-up to scale-up. I am confident that we will see further opportunities for collaboration and mutually beneficial partnerships.”

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, said, “The Belt and Road is one of the most important economic development corridors in the world right now and we are humbled that Hong Kong has welcomed the UAE with open arms. As Asia’s global innovation and financial hub, Hong Kong is an attractive destination for tech ventures where they can incubate, thrive and scale. At the heart of this is HKSTP and by connecting Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem with the UAE’s, it is opening doors to new opportunities between our markets and beyond.”

A major national strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) has driven significant economic collaborations in over 150 countries. As Hong Kong’s I&T flagship, HKSTP is supporting its ecosystem of tech ventures to take advantage of the economic corridor by helping them scale into new markets, as well assisting overseas tech ventures landing in Hong Kong, and Mainland China.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the B&RI, and with its increasing emphasis on sustainable development, the need for green adoption has never been greater. As part of its commitment to champion and drive sustainability from within the I&T ecosystem, HKSTP hosted a thematic session at the Belt and Road Summit under the theme “Green Technology Development for Belt and Road” in the Belt and Road Summit. The panel covered global trends, latest developments and applications of green and climate technology.

Appendix – List of Companies