Jointly organised by Cyberport with leading enterprise technology and services firm R3 and with support from Hang Seng Bank, the Summit brought together financial industry elites, local and international authorities, banks and business consultancies to examine the latest trends in digital currency and explore how financial institutions can adopt blockchain technology for digital currency-related applications to seize the opportunities offered by central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Nelson Chow, Chief Fintech Officer at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Fintech Facilitation Office, shared the HKMA’s work and upcoming plan for futureproofing CBDCs under the “Fintech 2025” Strategy.
Peter Yan, CEO of Cyberport said in his welcome remarks that Cyberport is closely monitoring the development of CBDCs that drives the demand for blockchain applications. Having major technology enterprises such as R3 as a member of Cyberport Technology Network (CTN) and through these initiatives, start-ups and enterprises could access innovation resources to develop advanced solutions, thereby strengthening Hong Kong’s position as an international innovation and technology hub.
David E. Rutter, Founder and CEO of R3 also expressed that through the R3 Digital Currency Accelerator and collaboration with Cyberport, he looks forward to providing Hong Kong FinTech companies with innovative resources to develop more advanced CBDC and digital currency-related applications.
During the Summit, Cyberport joined HKMA, R3, Accenture and Hang Seng Bank to examine how the financial industry should prepare for the presence of CBDCs in Hong Kong. Hang Seng is a first mover in such development, as the first foreign bank to successfully launch e-CNY services, and plans to develop the pioneering e-HKD PoC with R3. Hang Seng also plans to work with Cyberport to launch a series of programmes to facilitate the innovation and technology sector and the academia develop CBDC related applications.
Amit Ghosh, Chief Information & Services Officer of R3 shared that CBDCs will enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments and strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a regional and global cross-border payment hub. “FinTech start-ups, banks and corporates in Hong Kong can leverage R3’s topnotch facility and expertise to develop advanced CBDC and blockchain applications.”
