HKFYG Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016

About the Event

On 3 August 2016, seventeen Hong Kong, mainland and Singapore Fung Scholars were sponsored by the Victor and William Fung Foundation to join the Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016. The event was organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. The Forum was supposed to be held from 2-3 August, however, Day 1 of the Forum was cancelled due ot the Tropical Cyclone Nida. Luckily, Day 2 was successfully held in Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub. The participants visited the new Free Trade Zone of Guandong Province, attended workshops conducted by top China’s entrepreneurial leaders, panel discussion of various venture capitalists and listened to a pitching contest of a group of young entrepreneurs. The event provided a platform for the participants to network with experts and aspiring young entrepreneurs, learn the global business trend and gain inspiration to great success.

Reflections of the participants:

Jovian LING (FS2007-08, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

“It is indeed an eyes-opening experience to attend the Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016. With an expectation to experience the entrepreneurial atmosphere in Qianhai, I am more than fulfilled. As an entrepreneur myself, I did not only make friends with other passionate young entrepreneurs, I also had the chance to listen to the precious sharing from successful startups and VCs from their perspectives. This experience helped me to reflect on my own ups and downs in the past as well as the direction coming forward. I am truly thankful for this opportunity and I look forward to the next event coming!”

Sunny WONG (FS2007-08, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

“First, the startup atmosphere in Shenzhen is amazingly positive. One of the talks I attended was a sharing by various venture capitalists and during the event, over 200 participants join a WeChat group which had been created by one of the speakers simultaneously within minutes. Via the group, you can be immediately connected with people from various backgrounds and networks including fundraisers, technologists, founders and many more. The eagerness to help each other through community building is a truly impression lasting experience.

Secondly, learning from the workshops about blockchain I get to know much more about the technical knowledge about this new upcoming technology. Including speakers from well know blockchain organizations and startups, I have an excellent opportunity to be informed about the latest development and application usage of blockchain in various industries. Again, the support for adapting new technology in even some of the largest corporation in China is very encouraging for forward-looking startups.

Last but not the least, it is simply great to be reconnected with fellow Fung Scholars after all these years staying abroad. Although it has been a long time since everyone has embarked on different journeys after graduations, the Fung Sholars community is really close-knitted especially thanks to the devoted effort of the team at the Victor and William Fung Foundation. Thank you again for the opportunity to let me join the Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum and I am looking forward to meeting fellow Fung Scholars in the next event!”

Gary YEUNG (FS2011-12, The City University of Hong Kong)

“This event brought me a precious opportunity to visit Qianhai – a promising place of Shenzhen, or as media says, “China’s silicon valley”. Throughout the trip, I have met many young entrepreneurs, who shared their entrepreneur ideas with high energy. Especially in the pitching session, it gave me a taste of how competent and competitive Chinese elites are, and the spirit of entrepreneurship deeply rooted in their mind. As a Hong-Konger paying a short visit to this promising land with uprising youngsters, it made me no excuse to slack off and stop innovate in my career.”

LIM Jin Ming (FS2015-16, National University of Singapore)

“All in all, from start-up to scale-up, the Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum sought to ignite innovation around several themes, including Social Innovation, Angel Investment, Big Data, Blockchain Technology and the One Belt One Road Initiative. It was a privilege to attend the event with many aspiring young start-ups, innovators, sector experts and corporate executives. Moving forward, I hope to develop my entrepreneurial flair to make tangible change to businesses and society at large in the future.”

ZHOU Yuren (FS2012-13, Harbin Institute of Technology)

“Besides the scheduled activities, social networking was also the key part of the event. There were many young entrepreneurs and investigators, talking with them refreshed me with the latest information of the business situation in China and what type of startups are welcomed by the market.