Following is the speech by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the Hong Kong Venture Capital Forum organised by the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA) today (March 18):

Denis (Executive Director of the HKVCA, Mr Denis Tse), Melissa (HKVCA 2016 Conference Co-chairman Ms Melissa Guzy), distinguished speakers, guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. I am delighted to join today's forum. I would like to thank and congratulate the HKVCA for hosting this signature annual Hong Kong Venture Capital Forum.

We all know that innovation and technology are becoming increasingly important to our society. They have also become the drivers of our daily life. Today's forum, under the theme of "Emerging Technologies for Venture", provides important insights to develop a sustainable venture funding ecosystem for Hong Kong.

The start-up community in Hong Kong has been growing vibrantly as the number of accelerators, incubation and co-working spaces in Hong Kong has increased more than five times in the past five years, with the majority operated by the private sector. There are now about 1 600 innovation and technology start-ups in Hong Kong today. According to an international study last year, the growth of Hong Kong's start-up ecosystem ranked number five in the world. Each of these start-ups can turn inspiration and innovation into real-life application for the benefit of our economy and society.

Promoting innovation and technology start-ups is one of my bureau's top priority tasks. The Chief Executive has announced in his 2016 Policy Address that the Government will set aside HK$2 billion to set up an Innovation and Technology Venture Fund to co-invest with private venture capital funds on a matching basis. Through this new Venture Fund, we hope to attract more "smart money", which will bring in, in addition to capital, the valuable and professional expertise of the venture capitalists, which includes the many of you here today. The Government, as a facilitator, has been promoting the adoption of innovation and technology while encouraging public-private partnership. The strong support of local venture capitalists, together with additional injection of government funding and smart money, will help Hong Kong to build a more complete and robust venture funding ecosystem, to nurture the early stage start-ups on a sustainable basis.

The 2016 Policy Address also proposed the allocation of HK$200 million to launch the Cyberport Macro Fund, on top of the already successful Cyberport Micro Fund programme plus a significant expansion of Cyberport's popular incubation programme and co-working spaces. These initiatives will nurture and grow the Cyberport start-up clusters in ICT and blockchain technologies.

In addition, there will be a dedicated HK$2 billion fund for Midstream Research Programme to encourage our universities to carry out more applied research projects, focusing on key areas such as robotics, healthy ageing and smart city. On top of the UGC/RGC (University Grants Committee/Research Grants Council) research funding and the Innovation and Technology Fund, this new fund will provide additional resources and incentive for our tertiary institutions to focus on translational R&D. Our universities' professors, researchers and students are among the best in the world. Through this translational funding we hope to unlock the value of the best scientific and engineering minds in Hong Kong, to find solutions and products which will address the needs of the market and the community.

We also believe that innovation and technology can benefit our community through social improvement. To do so, the Government will set up a HK$500 million Innovation and Technology Fund for Better Living to finance innovation and technology projects which would improve our daily life in the areas of transport, education, environment and healthcare, etc. Through cross-bureau co-operation and combined efforts of the Government and private sector, this funding initiative will make our lives more comfortable, convenient and safer.

Melissa mentioned that we should all be proud of the recent achievements of our local start-ups. For example, Forbes recently announced that the founders of two Cyberport incubatees, GoGoVan and Snapask, are included in the "Forbes 30 under 30 Asia" honour list. We all know that GoGoVan created the first popular goods vehicle booking mobile app in Hong Kong. After expanding to Singapore and other Asian cities, GoGoVan's current market value is well over US$100 million. This is an amazing achievement for a young entrepreneur under 30 years of age in just a few years. On the other hand, WeLend, a start-up in Internet finance, is the first social lending platform based in Hong Kong, with the latest market valuation over US$200 million. Another innovative achievement was also announced earlier this month: the world's first internally motorised minimally invasive surgical robotic system for single incision or natural orifice robotic surgery. This product was developed by a local start-up in collaboration with research teams from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Hong Kong. I am sure more will come.

As an international trade and financial centre, Hong Kong has the unique advantage to pursue innovation and technology development, leveraging on its excellent legal infrastructure, an independent judiciary system and full protection for intellectual property rights. Under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has become the "super-connector" between the Mainland and the rest of the world in innovation and technology development. Innovation and technology will diversify our economy, increase our GDP, and create higher value-added jobs for our young generation in the future.

As you all know, China's 13th Five-Year Plan was officially promulgated yesterday. In particular, the Plan expresses support for Hong Kong in developing, among other things, the innovation and technology industry and nurturing emerging industries, as well as deepening the Mainland's exchanges and co-operation with Hong Kong in innovation and technology development. This will provide tremendous opportunity for Hong Kong and the private sector.

Hong Kong is ready to take on these opportunities and challenges. The local start-ups need the support from the elite venture capitalists like you. Are you ready?

Last but not least, I hope you will enjoy the rest of the programmes this afternoon and enlighten each other through fruitful networking and exchange. Thank you very much.

- ENDS -