HONG KONG, December 8, 2025 - (ACN Newswire) – The 15th Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia Forum), jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, and the 17th Entrepreneur Day (E-Day), hosted by the HKTDC, concluded on 5 December 2025. 

Held concurrently on 4 to 5 December, these two flagship events connected leading IP experts and business leaders from around the world, including Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, ASEAN and global markets. Through a diverse range of activities, the events examined how IP can drive business expansion, unlock new financing opportunities, and support start-ups in identifying investors and accessing new markets. This year, BIP Asia Forum welcomed over 3,300 attendees, while E-Day recorded over 12,000 visits. More than 350 business matching sessions were successfully arranged, helping solidify Hong Kong’s position as a regional IP trading centre and an international innovation and technology hub.

BIP Asia Forum unlocks the value of IP

With a global intangible asset value estimated at USD 80 trillion, IP is increasingly recognised as a powerful engine for accessing capital and scaling business growth. BIP Asia Forum explored a range of topics, including IP Valuation and Financing, to examine how enterprises can leverage IP as collateral to secure funding. During the session, Lewis Lee, Founder & CEO of Moat Metrics said, “Never before have we been in a place where we are very close to being able to assess IP value in a systematic and high-fidelity manner. The advances in AI and data in the last 12 months have accelerated the development of this framework. I encourage the industry to continue pushing forward.”

The plenary session “Propelling Sustainability with IP” examined how enterprises can leverage IP to strengthen their competitive edge amid the global shifts toward green transition and sustainability. As Krishna Singhania, Senior Intellectual Property Counsel of Maersk said, "Discarding the legacy model of 'IP is mine' and instead embracing flexibility is how we make changes. Exploring different models including lead-partnership, field-of-use ownership, joint ownership and government-funded projects ensures and preserves the competitive edge of each partner's core technology. Thus, we can meet our climate target of decarbonisation by 2040."

To respond to growing demand from Mainland companies for overseas expansion, the Intellectual Property Department hosted a dedicated “IP Go-Global Business Matching Session” during the Forum. Local professional service providers, IP lawyers, and specialists offered one-on-one consultations covering IP registration strategies, application procedures, and patent claims drafting. Zoe Fang, CEO of participated mainland enterprise Sichuan HangWan Cultural Communication Co. Ltd said: "To align with our national 'Go Global' strategy, we will leverage Hong Kong’s international legal services to address practical cross-border IP issues by participating in the matching session. We plan to utilise Hong Kong's professional services to outline our patent registration and market expansion strategies, and to develop actionable plans for entering international markets.”

Another participant from the Middle East, Founder and CEO of Voithy Tech Limited, Mohamed Orikat said: "Hong Kong serves as a crucial bridge to Chinese Mainland and APEC markets. At BIP Asia, we received professional advice on patent registration, litigation in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland, and company establishment in Hong Kong, which has provided us significant insights and assistance to our plan in expanding into the Asian market."

E-Day ignites start-up innovation: connecting capital, markets and partnersE-Day returned under the theme “Where Start-up Dreams Take Flight” and offered a wide range of exhibitions, conferences, roundtable discussion and matchmaking opportunities tailored for start-ups and SMEs. This year, the event showcased over 360 start-ups, invention projects and support organisations across AI, health tech, cybersecurity, construction & logistics tech, spatial computing, and sustainability.

During the business matching session, Dr. Ammar Mohammed Al Ojaili, Vice President of R&D and Innovation at global integrated energy group OQ, founded in Oman, said: “Hong Kong and the South China region are important markets for us. Events like Entrepreneur Day bring together startups, universities, and industry players all in one place, making it easier for companies like ours to discover innovative technologies and explore collaboration opportunities.”

The session “T-Chat: From Labs to Battlefield: Navigating Deep Tech Commercialisation and Global Scale” invited leaders from global innovation community, university knowledge transfer centre, venture capital firm, start-up founder and research institution to explore how deep tech innovators can leverage capital, partnerships, and international networks to accelerate commercialisation. YeYe Xiao, Innovation Consulting Manager & Central Asia Lead at Hello Tomorrow, who works in deep tech, said: “Entrepreneur Day emphasises Hong Kong as an I&T hub. It’s a great opportunity to gather stakeholders from all over the world once a year. The quality of the startups here are high, and people are doing very deep technologies.”

Other speakers shared how Entrepreneur Day brings business opportunities and collaboration to the industry. Martin Chu, CEO & Co-founder of i2COOL Limited, speaker of GBA Tripartite Roundtable: “Empowering GBA Startups to Expand into ASEAN with Hong Kong as a Super-connector and Super Value-adder”, remarked: “The cross-border collaborations brought by Entrepreneur Day are very important for a startup. Because Hong Kong is a super connector for different industries and different markets, we  get to know what they need, and then fine tune our technology. I think the situation is applicable to most of the new technologies invented in Chinese Mainland as well.”

In addition, the HKTDC signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong (JCIHK) and France-based Hello Tomorrow to deepen collaboration on supporting local SMEs, young entrepreneurs, and start-ups in expanding into international markets, providing mentorship, pitching opportunities and access to investors around the globe

“Start-up Express International” connects global innovators with Hong Kong and GBA opportunities

“Start-up Express International” continued to attract global founders exploring Hong Kong as a base for expansion into Asia and the Greater Bay Area, covering innovative fields such as green tech, health tech, AI, edtech, and more.

During the “Meet the Global Start-ups” session, participants shared insights on technology development, IP strategies, market expansion, and cross-border collaboration. They also discussed strategies for setting up in Hong Kong and entering the Greater Bay Area market with local investors, enterprises, and supporting organisations. Speakers highlighted that Hong Kong is an innovation and technology hub in the region, where companies can leverage the city as a testing ground to validate business models and use it as a springboard to tap into the Greater China market and beyond.   

Video replays of BIP Asia Forum events, including highlights of the exhibition and forums, will be available from 8 December 2025 to 7 January 2026. Replays of E-Day events will be uploaded after 5th of January 2026.

BIP Asia Forum website: https://bipasia.hktdc.com/en/

E-Day website: https://eday.hktdc.com/en

Start-up Express International website: https://portal.hktdc.com/startupexpress/en/s/start-up-express-international

Photo Download: https://bit.ly/4oFrrO7

*Disclaimer: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to this project only, and has otherwise no involvement in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/event (or by members of the project team) do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Creative Industries Development Office, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat, or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.                    

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About the 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 over 50 offices globally, including 13 in the Chinese Mainland, 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 research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.