HONG KONG, Nov 18, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is organising four exhibitions and forums online in early December, namely HKTDC Entrepreneur Day, the HKTDC SmartBiz Expo, Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia Forum) and DesignInspire. The events will feature industry experts and renowned speakers to share their business know-how and offer innovative responses to market changes for the benefit of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups.

HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Stephen Liang said: "The HKTDC is organising several industry-leading events in December, covering areas such as intellectual property, creative design and digital transformation. These events aim to enhance the competitiveness and agility of SMEs and start-ups in capturing business opportunities by offering market insights and industry knowledge. The Entrepreneur Day and SmartBiz Expo will feature an international lineup of star speakers who will share inspirational and practical advice to help promote business growth. These two events will also offer business matching and networking opportunities to boost collaboration.

"At the BIP Asia Forum, we will address the latest intellectual property issues and engage in discussions about how corporates can leverage patents to protect their inventions, promote innovation and unleash their sustainability potential. DesignInspire, meanwhile, has been scaled up to become a year-round promotional event that showcases a series of creative portfolios through both online and offline platforms. There will be roadshows in Hong Kong and Guangzhou in November and December to introduce local creative talents to the public."

Exploring the new normal at Entrepreneur Day and SmartBiz Expo

The 13th edition of Entrepreneur Day and the fifth SmartBiz Expo will be held concurrently from 1 to 3 December. Under the theme "New Normal. New Future", the two major events offer a fruitful agenda of online seminars, where industry leaders from home and abroad will address trends in innovative technology, entrepreneurship, market analysis of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, support services for SMEs and more. Those joining the events can gain inspiration and insight to boost their business plans, while start-ups and SMEs can explore the latest technologies and business solutions that can help to increase their productivity and market penetration.

One of the highlights of Entrepreneur Day will be a seminar jointly organised by the HKTDC and Hang Seng Bank at which the co-organisers will bring together representatives from SMEs and start-ups to share views on the outlook for local science and technology development. The seminar also covers innovative technologies and banking services that can help traditional SMEs and start-ups overcome operational obstacles and expand their business in both Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

Technology has been advancing at a faster rate than ever before, even extending to the realm of fine arts and making breakthroughs in the traditional arts scene. In a seminar titled "Disrupting the Art and Creative Industry - Art Tech", artist and co-founder of Naffiti Hanjin Tan, co-founder and fair director of Digital Art Fair Gillian Howard, and a representative from Asian non-fungible token (NFT) trade platform Paititi will examine how NFTs and technology are opening up new horizons for the arts and creative industries.

Many business owners want to grow their business into a "unicorn", which refers to tech start-ups with an estimated market value of over US$1 billion but which are not listed. In "Unicorn Fireside Chat - the Blooming Delivery Economy", representatives from the first Thai unicorn Flash Express will share their post-pandemic business tactics and review the significance of their success for the benefit of the Southeast Asian start-up scene.

With people becoming increasingly health and environmentally conscious, food technology is an area that has been gaining more attention and has catalysed the development of alternative foods in the market. In the "Food Tech - the Alternative Food Trend" seminar, Katharina Unger, founder and CEO of LIVIN Farms, Carrie Chan, CEO of Avant Meats, and Anushka Purohit, CEO and co-founder of Breer, will guide participants through the latest developments in the industry and introduce some of the latest alternative foods, including edible insects, cultivated fish and beer brewed from recycled bread.

The pandemic has undoubtedly speeded up the move towards the home office and the hybrid workplace, with companies needing to reexamine ways to enhance the productivity of their employees and maintain engagement with them. This transformation in traditional business models led to the birth of culture-as-a-service (CaaS), an online solution designed to productise and facilitate the growth and development of a company's culture. In the session titled "Culture-as-a-Service: The New Segment Ushered in by Home Office Work", Jessica Baird Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Remote Social, and Yeung Shing, co-founder of Quokka HR, will share their views on how CaaS promotes business growth and development.

Entrepreneurial spirit is a crucial asset for someone launching a successful new enterprise, and it is a quality also often found in athletes and artists. In the discussion panel "Road to Success - Celebreneurship", Bernice Liu, actress and founder of Wine Maven, will share her business journey as an entrepreneur.

The highlight event on the first day of the SmartBiz Expo will be the World SME Summit, an annual extravaganza for SMEs co-organised by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business. The summit serves as a communication platform for SMEs worldwide to build connections, which is particularly important at a time when the world economy is going through a drastic transition in the wake of the pandemic. This year's summit will focus on a range of issues including how local SMEs can grasp business opportunities offered by China's 14th Five-Year Plan.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is software technology that works to emulate humans' actions and can be used to help companies improve their efficiency. In the session titled "Is Robot your Friend or Enemy? RPA in a Nutshell", Tommy Fung, Regional Channel Director of UiPath, will examine the application of RPA in various businesses and assess the benefits it can bring to companies.

With its large population and high consumption power, it looks certain that the Greater Bay Area will become the next key destination for the business expansion of Hong Kong brands. While many large corporations having already made their move into the Greater Bay Area, it's important for SMEs that they are not left behind. In the branding dialogue session "Developing Hong Kong Brands in the Greater Bay Area", William Shum, founder and CEO of Memorigin Watch Company Limited, will join other industry experts to discuss their experience entering the Greater Bay Area market and share tips that can help SMEs transform their business.

Industry 4.0 has become a key focus in the digital transformation journey for many enterprises, including SMEs. In "Roadmap for SMEs into the Era of Industry 4.0", Samson Suen, General Manager of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, and Calvin Wu, CEO of Shing Hing Plastic Manufacturing Limited, will share their vision for achieving digital transformation in accordance with companies' own business strategies and market trends while keeping it within a manageable budget.

Capturing market trends through BIP Asia Forum

Jointly organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Design Centre, the 11th BIP Asia Forum will be held online from 2 to 3 December. With the theme "Unleashing Innovation for Sustainability and Growth", this year's forum brings together intellectual property (IP) professionals and business leaders from around the world to discuss the latest developments in the IP world. The Keynote Session will feature Gautier Engisch, Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Legal, Innovation, EMEA, and Global Fabric Care at Procter & Gamble, sharing his company's experience in promoting partner engagement and sustaining growth in value through an open and innovative collaboration platform. Meanwhile, the Plenary Session will focus on the topic "Powering New Paradigms for Sustainability and Growth". Participants will gain fruitful insights from Guo Zengpeng, Chief IP Counsel of Midea; Hisashi Ishijima, Corporate Associate Vice President and Deputy General Manager of IP Division of Ricoh; Ingrid Viitanen, Vice President, IP Legal, General Counsel, Nokia Technologies; and Winnie Yeung, Chief Legal Counsel, Greater China Region at Microsoft.

On the second day of the forum, the Global Tech Summit will explore all types of disruptive technologies. The speaker line-up includes Osman Yilmaz, Senior Project Manager and 6G Program Coordinator of Nokia Bell Labs; Siu Yat, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands; and Alec Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Endless West. Local startup pioneers will include Alvin Cheung, Co-Founder and CEO of Zunosaki HK; Calvin Ma, Co-COO of Pickupp; and Justin Chan, Co-Founder and CEO of Gense Technologies. The two-day forum will present numerous breakout sessions, including "Greater Bay Area: Latest Opportunities under China's 14th Five-Year Plan" and "Cross-border IP Commercialisation in the Greater Bay Area: Opportunities and Challenges". Satellite conferences will be set up in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, operating simultaneously with the main forum.

The forum will also feature a series of breakout sessions. The IP Financing breakout discussion, co-organised with Aon, will examine the latest IP valuation solutions that can help enterprises with IP ownership improve their IP financing capabilities. In addition, the IP Training Programme, co-organised with the Intellectual Property Department of the HKSAR, will offer lectures on the fundamentals of various types of IP. By building a basic understanding of the rights of IP owners and users, this programme aims to strengthen participants' ability to protect and manage IP within their organisations. On 1 December, InspoTalk, which will be conducted physically at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, will welcome industry experts to share their experiences relating to various IP issues such as IP financing, the intersection of IP and ESG, technology transfer, opportunities in NFT and many more. The hosts will engage in in-depth discussions and real-time interactions with participants.

This year, the IPHatch Hong Kong open innovation competition stages a comeback with details of the fourth edition being announced during the BIP Asia Forum. The latest contest focuses on sustainable innovation, with representatives from renowned venture capital funds being invited to provide insights into the impact of sustainability on investment trends. The session will also feature past start-up winners sharing their inspirational entrepreneurship journey and offer winning tips for the challenge. Speakers will include Jason Loh, Founder and CEO of Piece Future; Andrew Young, Associate Director (Innovation) of Sino Group; Jenni Risku, Impact Partner of Click Venture; Alexander Ying, Founder of DRESIO Limited; Steven Dominique, Founder of Dragonfly; and Simon Rhodes, Founder and CEO of 1bar.net.

DesignInspire promotes creative industries year-round

This year, DesignInspire has scaled up to become a year-round promotional event. Through various online and offline channels, DesignInspire will showcase innovative design solutions and pioneering ideas from global creative elites, fashion brands and design institutions, in the realms of digital, experiential, graphics, industrial, interior, urban and cultural design, offering a fresh creative experience to the general public. The expo will also showcase a series of creative portfolios, with the DesignInspire website displaying works from design studios worldwide along with creative stories from designers, digital interactive experiences and various STEAM workshops. In addition, DesignInspire will stage crossover mini exhibitions in Hong Kong and Guangzhou to promote young local creative talents to the general public. The two showcases are the "Streets & Stories" exhibition in Hong Kong (19 November to 5 December, Urban Sky, 9/F, Hysan Place) and the "Happy Home" exhibition in Guangzhou (3 to 12 December, Parc Central).

Websites
- HKTDC Entrepreneur Day: https://portal.hktdc.com/eday/en
- HKTDC SmartBiz Expo: https://portal.hktdc.com/smartbizexpo/en/
- Business of IP Asia Forum: https://bipasia.hktdc.com/en/
- DesignInspire: https://www.designinspire.com.hk/main/en/
- Photo download: https://bit.ly/2YVwX9u

About HKTDC

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade publications, research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn

Media enquiries:
HKTDC's Communications & Public Affairs Department
Clayton Lauw, Tel: +852 2584 4472, Email: clayton.y.lauw@hktdc.org
Angel Tang, Tel: +852 2584 4544, Email: angel.hc.tang@hktdc.org
Christine Kam, Tel: +852 2584 4514, Email: christine.kam@hktdc.org

Source: HKTDC

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