The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government are jointly organising the 13th Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia Forum). The 15th Entrepreneur Day (E-Day) will also be hosted by the HKTDC. These two events will be held concurrently from 7 to 8 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The mix of forums, exhibitions, competitions, workshops and business matching at these events provide start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) infinite opportunities to network, engage in dialogue and find ways to collaborate for success.
By utilising HKTDC’s exhibition and business matching services to find potential business partners or investors, the events promote IP commercialisation, facilitate industry-academia collaboration and showcase the advances in scientific research in Hong Kong.
HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Patrick Lau said, “The BIP Asia Forum and Entrepreneur Day are held concurrently to provide a holistic presentation of the journey from ideation and IP commercialisation to starting your business and scaling up. The two events have resumed as fully physical events this year, bringing together over 90 industry leaders and more than 350 exhibitors from IP, innovation and technology (I&T), start-ups and sustainability. The events promote cross-industry and cross-sector exchanges, driving business opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
He added: “By facilitating interactions and exchanges between local companies, global industry leaders and internationally renowned speakers, we aim to equip event participants with a deeper understanding in diverse areas, ranging from the latest in start-up trends and sustainable development to new IP applications and opportunities.”
Business of IP Asia Forum: Steering New Economic Growth
Themed “IP & Innovation: Steering New Economic Growth”, the Forum brings together IP industry players and business leaders from around the world to discuss the latest IP developments and explore collaboration opportunities.
Dr Peter K N Lam, Chairman of the HKTDC; Michael Wong, Deputy Financial Secretary, HKSAR; Dr Lu Pengqi, Deputy Commissioner, China National Intellectual Property Organization; and Daren Tang, Director General, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), will deliver remarks at the opening session.
Algernon Yau, HKSAR Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, opens the Forum’s first session, the Policy Dialogue, with a welcome address. International IP policymakers discuss the importance of IP and innovation in stimulating worldwide economic growth in a conversation with Winnie Tam, Senior Counsel of Des Voeux Chambers. The speakers include Mr Tang; Rowel S. Barba, Chair of the Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); Santisouk Phounesavath, Chairman of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation; and Dr. M. Zeki Durak, President of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.
For the Plenary Session, Mayeul Dastugue, Legal Director of Global IP Enforcement of Christian Louboutin; Laurence Morel-Chevillet, IP and Brand Protection Director of Bulgari S.p.A; and Mayank Vaid, Intellectual Property Director of Asia Pacific & China (Civil) of Louis Vuitton, share their brand strategy successes in the new economic landscape and discuss how the use of technology can reinvent brands.
At the Global Tech Summit, global tech leaders, including Olivier Klein, Asia Pacific Chief Technologist of Amazon Web Services; Fred Sheu, National Technology Officer of Microsoft Hong Kong; and Dr Ginny Wong, Data Scientist of NVIDIA AI Technology Center Hong Kong, deep dive into the latest trends of generative AI applications and their impact on IP.
The ASEAN Session, organised by the ASEAN Secretariat and the HKSAR Intellectual Property Department in collaboration with WIPO, features IP representatives from government and business in ASEAN and Hong Kong as well as experts, licensing agents and international brand owners, including MCM Group, S2O Factory, B.Duck Semk, who share their insights on ways to maximise the value of trademarks in today’s rapidly changing global business environment.
The two-day forum also features talks on a variety of topics, including IP collaboration and competition in the biomedical Industry in the GBA, and IP and dispute resolution in the age of AI, digital trade, IP protection and more. Additionally, there will be presentations by companies showcasing their latest innovations.
The IP & Innovation Market returns under the theme of Clean Tech, showcasing over 30 innovative projects from tertiary institutions, R&D centres and start-ups focused on recycling, sustainable energy, green materials, waste management and more to strengthen IP commercialisation and facilitate collaboration.
Entrepreneur Day: Latest Trends in Innovation and Technology
With the theme Building Resilience, Boosting Collaboration, some 30 industry leaders from around the world share their insights on the latest developments and trends in the start-up ecosystem at E-Day.
Showcasing some 300 start-ups, projects and support services, the exhibition area offers an opportunity for networking and business matching. An Australian delegation, led by Investment NSW, participate in E-Day for the first time, showcasing nine start-ups in health tech, environmental protection tech and smart city.
The Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions Hong Kong, co-organised by The Hong Kong Exporters’ Association and Palexpo in Geneva and featuring over 110 innovations from Asia at E-Day, showcases global breakthrough inventions and technological solutions.
This year’s E-Day sees an increased participation of incubators from the GBA. The HKSAR Home and Youth Affairs Bureau invited 50 local start-ups under the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to join the event. The scheme supports young entrepreneurs to establish their business in the GBA.
The seminars encompass four major series, including the Inspirational Masterclass Series, Emerging Trends for Tech and Innovation Series, Fuelling the Future Series and Market Exploration Series. On the first day, the conference will kick off with T-Chat featuring Serge Conesa, Founder and CEO of Swiss start-up Immersion4, which received the Most Innovative Use of ICT Award from the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2019. At this seminar, he shares his entrepreneurial journey and explores the market potential of greentech in Europe and the Middle East.
At another session on the future of work on the second day, Daryl Lau, Sales Director of JobsDB Hong Kong; Leo Siu, Head of HRMS of Computer And Technologies Holdings Limited and Emrys Lam, Founder of HR Plus Limited, shed light on emerging trends reshaping the workplace and the ways in which these trends and new technologies influence talent acquisition and retention strategies.
On the same day, a seminar co-organised with GoGBA Business Support Centre in Futian features Zhang Yun, Minister of Vitality Promotion Department of the Futian District Investment Promotion and Enterprise Service Center in Shenzhen; and Chen Shan, President of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubation Base in Guangdong. They highlight the latest policies and support services for start-ups, while Aldous Ng, CEO of CU Coding Limited, and Simon Cheung, Associate Director of BIM Limited, share their journey of establishing a presence in the GBA.
Last year, the HKTDC launched Start-up Express: International Edition to attract international start-ups to operate in Hong Kong and expand their business in the region. Following last year’s inaugural success, the event returns during E-Day with the support of 15 global partners from around the world, stretching from Mainland China to the wider Asia-Pacific region and Australia to Europe and the USA. On the first day of E-Day, this year’s seven out of 10 global winners join us in person.
As part of Start-up Express, the HKTDC provides comprehensive support to the top 30 start-ups through the Start in Hong Kong Programme. The support encompasses marketing, technical, business setup and peer support as well as mentorship to assist start-ups in accessing the markets of Hong Kong and the wider GBA.
InnoClub, a one-stop platform jointly developed by the HKTDC and Hang Seng Bank, is organising the inaugural InnoClub Award Presentation Ceremony on the second day of E-Day to recognise the exceptional achievements of InnoClub members in I&T. The three winners then engage in conversation on their entrepreneurial journey, which is followed by a networking reception.
Exhibition and Forum Website
Business of IP Asia Forum website: https://bipasia.hktdc.com/en/
Entrepreneur Day: https://www.hktdc.com/event/eday/en
Start-up Express International: https://portal.hktdc.com/startupexpress/en/s/start-up-express-international
