Original Author: Chen Maobo, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong
These days are the long weekend of the Easter holiday, and everyone may have arranged different activities to get together with relatives and friends, or to relax and "recharge" a little in the busy life. The new batch of consumer coupons will be issued next Sunday, and the "Happy Hong Kong" series of activities will start soon. The combination of the two arrows is expected to bring new stimulus to the local retail and catering market, and further consolidate the momentum of economic recovery.
As Hong Kong society returns to normal and fully restores external relations, we must ride on the momentum and work together to open up new tracks and strive for new advantages for Hong Kong's economic development.
In the "Budget", I proposed three major directions to promote the high-quality development of Hong Kong. Among them, the digital economy and the application of the third-generation Internet (Web3) have great development potential and have aroused positive responses from the society. This week alone, at least four large-scale seminars or carnivals related to Web3, digital economy, financial technology, etc. have been held in Hong Kong, and some of these events are expected to be attended by more than 10,000 people.
This Thursday and Friday, the SAR Government and Cyberport will jointly hold the "2023 Digital Economy Summit" for two consecutive days. Representatives from various sectors including business, industry and academia. The summit set up six thematic forums to deconstruct future trends such as smart cities, data innovation, financial technology, artificial intelligence and big data, Web3, smart mobility, and new industrialization, and analyze related global and regional development prospects.
Another Web3-themed carnival was hosted by industry insiders. This year, it was held in Hong Kong for the first time, reflecting that Hong Kong's vision and development strategy for Web3 has aroused great interest from industry insiders. The event will focus on topics such as the development of Web3 and blockchain technology, popular applications of Web3, and related global regulations, and build a platform for exchanges and mutual progress for the cutting-edge development of Web3 around the world.
There are many activities this week, and many founders and senior managers of leading Web3 companies or start-up companies will gather in Hong Kong to participate in the conference, including Web3 infrastructure, trading platforms, virtual assets, wallets and payment tools, network security audits, and innovation Representatives of investment funds, etc. Some people in the industry described the lineup of the series of activities as the industry's "martial arts conference".
In fact, the global competition for the development of Web3 is also deepening. The competition is about who can create the largest space for applications and innovations under the premise of controllable risks. Whether it is a reform based on the existing foundation or a "disruptive innovation", its ultimate goal is inseparable from solving pain points for real life and the real economy, improving efficiency, and promoting more inclusive and inclusive development. For example, how to use "tokenization" technology to solve the long-standing pain point of transaction transparency for the bond market, so as to facilitate the innovation of the next stage of green finance; another example is to explore the use of blockchain technology to simplify the transaction process of supply chain and trade, reduce cost etc. The application of these real-world scenarios awaits our further in-depth discussion and leading innovation.
Of course, over the past period of time, the virtual asset market has fluctuated greatly, and some virtual asset exchanges have closed down recently, which makes some people in the society doubt the prospects of Web3. However, we think this is the right time to push Web3 forward.
Recalling the early 2000s, the world has also experienced the rise of the Internet and the bursting of the bubble. After this cycle, market participants have become calmer. After the tide of speculation ebbs, the remaining powerful players will focus more on competing in technological innovation, practical application and value creation, and contribute to improving the quality of the real economy. It is the course that the Internet technology industry has gone through.
I believe that Web3 is going through the same process. In the next stage, market participants need to develop blockchain technology more deeply, so that its characteristics and advantages of transparency, efficiency, security, disintermediation, de-platformization, and low cost can find wider application scenarios and solve more problems. There are pain points in the business model and even problems such as breaking monopoly, so that users can share the economic value of data more widely, and bring leapfrog progress to the real economy.
In order for Web3 to steadily take the road of innovative development, we will adopt a strategy that emphasizes both "proper regulation" and "promotion of development". In terms of proper supervision, in addition to ensuring financial security and preventing systemic risks, we will also do a good job in investor education and protection, and anti-money laundering. Under the principle of "same activities, same risks, same regulation", we will first introduce a licensing system for virtual asset service providers in June this year, and we are also studying the regulation of "stable coins" to ensure the sustainable and sustainable development of the virtual asset industry. Responsible development.
In addition, I allocated $50 million to Cyberport in the new budget to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem in Hong Kong, including holding international large-scale seminars, so that the industry and enterprises can better grasp the cutting-edge development and promote cross-border development. different business cooperation, and organize more youth workshops, etc.
The road of innovation and technological change has never been smooth sailing. Even if the development direction is locked, the actual path has to be worked out step by step; only by persisting in trying can we find new solutions and new ways out. I look forward to several large-scale forums next week, which will bring more in-depth exchanges and thought collisions for the development of the digital economy and Web3, make more forward-looking and specific explorations for future practice paths, and help us in the new track, In the new field, we will keep upright and innovate, and move forward steadily and prudently.
