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Global forum highlights 3 key regional hubs to boost Asia’s economy
[Sponsored article]As Asia adjusts to a world reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, collaboration and innovation are essential to building economic resilience. Leading the way to growth in the region are Chengdu, Hong Kong and Singapore, three hubs that shared the limelight at the inaugural Global Innovation and Technology Forum. The virtual event was started by the government of Chengdu, a high-level hub. growing technology in western China, and was broadcast from Chengdu, Hong Kong and Singapore with an alignment of experts and leaders in business, government and finance. Keynote addresses and panel discussions addressed Asia’s role as a powerhouse for global economic growth and the business and investment opportunities it presents. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories that originate from China. Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former executive director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said international cooperation will remain a key driver of the global economy. is here to stay. The people of the world cannot afford deglobalization without suffering degradation in their standard of living, ”he told the audience. Playing on the fear of globalization for political gain will not increase competitiveness. The sooner governments, businesses and other stakeholders break down national barriers, the sooner we will realize the full benefits of innovation and technology for all of humanity. ” Growing and Evolving Economies Amid the pandemic, Asian economies are recovering faster than those of other regions. The International Monetary Fund said that emerging Asian economies are the only region with anticipated GDP growth in 2020, albeit only 1%, while the rest of the world sees negative growth. Meanwhile, China reported that its economy grew 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “dual circulation” economic strategy that aims to create synergy between the domestic market and international markets. In his speech at the forum, Zhou Hanmin, a member of the CPPCC standing committee, said that the strategy covers five main aspects: human capital, logistics, information, finance, and research and development, with technological innovation as the fundamental driver. The strategy is opening up new opportunities for Singapore, as Chinese tech giants such as ByteDance and Tencent announced plans to establish new regional hubs in the city-state. “We are seeing the start of Chinese companies using Singapore as a global hub,” said Ku Kay-mok, Managing Partner, Southeast Asia, of Gobi Partners, a Chinese venture capital firm that actively invests in the region. At the forum, he explained that Singapore has found a niche by integrating Chinese technologies such as semiconductors, hardware and applications with Western technologies, making the city-state a springboard for Chinese companies to export technologies abroad. ), An initiative connecting Hong Kong and ten other cities into an economic hub with an economy valued at $ 1.5 trillion, offers similar opportunities in the high-tech sector. During a panel discussion, Victor Fung Kwok-king, group president of Hong Kong-based supply chain conglomerate Fung Group, said: “What we are seeing is a new integration of technology. We are using GBA digital manufacturing to fit into our global network and to create the next global digitized supply chain of the future. ” Fung noted that one of GBA’s competitive advantages is its ability to provide end-to-end solutions. for manufacturing. “The entire Greater Bay Area is today one of the best test markets in the world. … Whatever creation we have at the product design stage, we can immediately run small production runs for testing, review them right away, and then scale them fairly quickly, ”he said. Within GBA, Shenzhen has evolved from its status as “the factory world” to become home to some of China’s leading tech companies, including Tencent and Huawei. Further west, Chengdu is following a similar path of development: Last year, it was named the best performing manufacturing city in China by the independent think tank Milken Institute. Forum panelist Wang Xi, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Cardinal Operations, said that the city’s manufacturing base provides a good infrastructure and talent base that will enable traditional industries to reinvent companies to take advantage of the digital economy in areas such as big data and artificial intelligence. New opportunities from the crisis While the Global Innovation and Technology Forum provided Chengdu, Hong Kong and Singapore with the first opportunity to participate in this kind of interregional dialogue, their collaboration is still in an early stage. To date, there are only a few strategic partnerships with a specific focus on these cities; Examples include the merger between the Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations and Chengdu Tianfu New Area for international trade and innovation, and Singapore-Sichuan Hi-Tech Innovation Park. However, this pandemic provides the opportunity to hit the reset button. Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board, said in his keynote address: “Covid-19 has caused a major disruption in the global economy and societies around the world. Despite that, we are finding new ways to stay connected to each other. The best form of resilience has always been diversification ”. This Global Forum Article Highlights 3 Key Regional Hubs for Boosting Asia’s Economy First Featured on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
