IMF Confirms Hong Kong Has a Resilient Financial System
The 2025 Fintech strategy for Hong Kong has been unveiled by the Monetary Authority aimed at encouraging the financial sector to comprehensively adopt the technology.
The purpose of encouraging technology adoption by 2025 is to ensure that the financial services sector can provide fair and efficient services. For the financial sector, Fintech is the key to growth, especially post-pandemic. This is the time for Hong Kong to double its efforts.
Five Areas of Focus
The 2025 Fintech strategy is going to focus on five areas. These areas are:
- For all banks to adopt Fintech
- Create the next-generation data infrastructure
- Future-proofing Hong Kong for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)
- Help nurture the ecosystem through policies and funding
- Helping to expand the Fintech-savvy workforce
A Tech Baseline Assessment will be rolled out to promote and encourage banks to adopt Fintech all-around. This assessment will conduct a stocktake of the Hong Kong banks’ current and planned adoption of fintech. The assessment hopes to identify which areas are underdeveloped and in need of support.
In addition, the Monetary Authority has also been working alongside Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub Centre in Hong Kong. Together, research is being conducted into retail CBDCs. A study on e-HKD will also commence assessing if Hong Kong can issue a retail e-Hong Kong dollar.
Collaborating With the People’s Bank of China
The Monetary Authority will be working closely with the People’s Bank of China to support the technical testing of e-CNY. The aim of the testing is to research a more convenient method of cross-boundary payments in Hong Kong.
Enhancing Existing Data Infrastructure
To achieve the goal of Fintech 2025, Hong Kong will enhance its existing data infrastructure. This includes building a Commercial Data Interchange among other things. The Monetary Authority also plans to work together with several strategic partners. The aim is to develop Fintech-specific training programmes and qualifications, as well as promoting joint projects that can take place between academia and the industry.
The Industry Project Masters network scheme will be carried out in September. Postgraduate students will be given the opportunity to undertake an internship and work on Fintech projects for banks.
The Hong Kong Growth Portfolio will seek to reinforce Hong Kong’s status as a financial, innovative and commercial centre. The preparatory work is already underway. Possible funding and support may be given to qualified Fintech projects. The feasibility of this is being explored by the Monetary Authority through its Fintech Supervisory Sandbox.
