Paul Chan, Chen Zhiying, Qi Bin and Edward Yau witnessed together for the inauguration of the Greater Bay Young Entrepreneurs Association (GBYEA) jointly established by innovative enterprises including Greater Bay Area Investment Group, Royole, iFLYTEK

2019 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting will be held in the town of Davos, Switzerland from January 22nd to 25th. The theme of this year's meeting is "Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, audiences are expected to exceed 3,000, including Wang Qishan, Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss Confederation and other representatives from political and government delegations, business leaders, academic representatives, art and media leaders.

As the only Hong Kong-based financial institution of the global strategic partner of World Economic Forum, AMTD will once again set up "AMTD House" at the Davos Annual Meeting and host “Greater Bay Entrepreneurship Day“for the first time in the history of Davos. We specially invited Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR Government, Chen Zhiying, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, Qi Bin, Executive Vice President, China Investment Corporation (CIC) and Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong SAR Government to attend the ceremony andwitness the dream and passion of innovative entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area.

On 22nd January, during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, as a comprehensive financial institution rooted in Hong Kong, based in the Greater Bay Area, backed by the motherland and the only Hong Kong-based strategic partner of World Economic Forum, AMTD Group announced the inauguration of Greater Bay Young Entrepreneurs Association (GBYEA) which was jointly established by innovative enterprises including Greater Bay Area Investment Group, Royole, iFLYTEK, DayDayCook, GOGOVAN, etc. in the Greater Bay Area. Also, “Greater Bay Entrepreneurship day “was successfully held, Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR Government, Chen Zhiying, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, Qi Bin, Executive Vice President of CIC attended and witnessed the ceremony. More than 200 leaders from different countries, including political, business, academic, and media sectorsparticipated in the event and shared the dream and passion of innovative entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area.

Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Vice Chairman of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, Founder and Chairman of GBYEA mentioned in the opening remarks, with the unique infrastructure, development conditions and innovative entrepreneurial environment, the Greater Bay Area will give chance to outstanding young people from all over the world to accomplish their dreams and change the world. AMTD initiated the establishment of GBYEA, a platform to unite, encourage and support more outstanding young people to contribute to the development of the Greater Bay Area with unremitting efforts, innovative dreams and passion.

Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR Government introduced, the Greater Bay Area has an enormous economy body with 5.6 trillion square kilometres area, nearly 70 million people and a GDP of US$150 million. It has a very broad development opportunity and growth potential. Hong Kong has the advantages of “one country, two systems”, and is also one of the world's international financial centers. It has abundant human resources, convenient financing conditions, perfect legal system, sound infrastructure, and close connection with the mainland China and global markets. This will provide a huge opportunity for young entrepreneurs. In the past year, more than 2,600 new start-ups have been established in Hong Kong, an increase of over 18% year-over-year. More than one-third of the founders are from outside of Hong Kong, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and China. Paul Chan said that innovation is the city's gene in Hong Kong and technology is the new engine to promote sustained and diversified economy development in Hong Kong. Hong Kong government is supportive towards the development of youth innovation and entrepreneurship. It has launched a HK$300 million Youth Development Fund and HK$2 billion Venture Capital Fund to support start-ups in Hong Kong. InvestHK and Trade Development Council have also supported youth innovation and entrepreneurship through different methods. Paul Chan mentioned, it’s great honour to witness the inauguration of GBYEA. Hong Kong government will support the youth innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area as usual, and hope that GBYEA and all other entrepreneurs can seize the huge opportunities of the Greater Bay Area with its resources and advantages to work and develop together.

On behalf of the Guangzhou Municipal Government, Chen Zhiying, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou congratulated the establishment of GBYEA. He mentioned, CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and Municipal Government attach great attention to promoting the construction of the Greater Bay Area, especially supporting the development of Youth in Hong Kong and Macao . At the policy level, Guangzhou Government fully supports the measures of the development of Youth in Hong Kong and Macao, creates a batch of bases for Hong Kong and Macao young entrepreneurs, enhances the condition of employment for Hong Kong and Macao youth, helps the outstanding talents to develop in Guangzhou, provides professional services and public services for Hong Kong and Macao youth in Guangzhou through multi-channel measures. He said that the establishment of GBYEA is in line with the general trend of the construction of the Greater Bay Area, and will play an important role in connecting domestic and overseas resources in order to help start-up enterprises. He looks forward to the GBYEA to seize the opportunity of the Greater Bay Area, provide more high-quality and efficient services, contribute to the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao, and attract more outstanding young entrepreneurs to invest in the Greater Bay Area with innovative development.

Qi Bin, Executive Vice President of CIC mentioned, the construction and development of the Greater Bay Area will better coordinate with the resources and advantages of the “9+2” cities group and promote the interconnection of capital markets in Hong Kong and mainland China, which will greatly promote the reform and development of China's capital market. As China's sovereign wealth fund, CIC has established a number of bilateral national investment funds, including China and US, China and Japan, China and UK. CIC will also use this as a platform to further establish a bridge of cooperation between China and other countries in the world, helping more outstanding young entrepreneurs to innovate and develop at the same time.

Subsequently, under the joint witness of Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR Government, Chen Zhiying, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Executive Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, Qi Bin, Executive Vice President of CIC and Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong SAR Government, Calvin Choi, Chairman and President of AMTD Group, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader , Dr. Bill Liu, Founder & CEO of Royole Corporation; World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Norma Chu, Founder and CEO of DayDayCook, Steven Lam, Co-Founder and CEO of GOGOVAN, CEO of Kuaigou Dache, Stanley Chan, Co-Founder and CEO of Farseer launched the inauguration ceremony of GBYEA.

Francis Leung, Chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies and Sabrina Chao, Executive Chairman of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings and World Economic Forum 2013 Young Global Leader gave guest remarks as the Special Advisors of GBYEA, expressing their support and encouragement for youth innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area. On behalf of GBYEA, Norma Chu, President of GBYEA, Founder and CEO of DayDayCook thanked all guests for the great support. Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of the University of Waterloo was specially invited to share the views on youth entrepreneurship and technological innovation with the audience. Anchored by Carol Yu, producer and anchor of Phoenix TV and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Dr. Bill Liu, Founder & CEO of Royole Corporation, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Celine Dong, Senior Manager of Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, Steven Lam, Co-Founder and CEO of GOGOVAN, CEO of Kuaigou Dache, Stanley Chan, Co-Founder and CEO of Farseer and Neil Wang, Head of Strategic Investment of AMTD Group joined the panel discussion on the topic of “Seizing the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and Promoting the development of innovative technology”.

Greater Bay Young Entrepreneurs Association was initiated by AMTD, and co-founded by the leading innovative enterprises in the Greater Bay Area including Greater Bay Area Investment Group, iFLYTEK, Royole, DayDayCook, GOGOVAN, OneDegree, FinEx Asia, TNG and Farseer. With the objective of “Leveraging the opportunities of the Greater Bay Area, Enhancing interconnection and Promoting innovative development” and the principle of “Innovation, Mutual assistance and Openness”, the Association is committed to connecting domestic and overseas resources and channels, promoting start-ups of the Greater Bay Area to seize the opportunities, contributing to the development of construction and innovation of the Greater Bay Area.