Hong Kong needs more financial innovation to effectively tap Greater Bay Area opportunities

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Critics say the government’s push for innovation is mere talk that lacks real supportive measures

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Shenzhen government support to tech companies has helped the city become a hub for AI and big data industries. Photo: Roy Issa

Eric Ng

Published: 4:08pm, 16 Jan 2018Updated: 11:22pm, 16 Jan 2018

Hong Kong’s finance industry should offer more innovative financial products by harnessing information technology to tap opportunities in the “Greater Bay Area”, according to a senior banker serving the region.

Doing so would help the sector maintain its competitive edge in the area that covers Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities in the Pearl River Delta, Ginger Cheng, the China head of large and mid-cap corporates at Singapore’s DBS Bank told the Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday.

“The Greater Bay Area is the most market-driven area in China, evidenced by how its private enterprises have developed over the years into global players … Hong Kong’s role is to provide the financial products and services needed by companies in the region to further advance themselves,” she said.

“I see a lot of innovation in financial services in China … I met many financial technology firms in Shenzhen, they are offering traditional banking products in an entirely different and more automated way,” she said. “This is an area Hong Kong needs to catch up on.”

DBS Bank’s Cheng said her business unit was aiming for revenue growth of 20 to 30 per cent from the bay area this year. Photo: SCMP handout

While Hong Kong has access to the technology and talent needed to do that, “the environment is not very encouraging” for innovation to happen, she added.

Cheng said with huge business potential in the Greater Bay Area, her business unit was aiming for revenue growth of 20 to 30 per cent this year in area. She noted that DBS’ Shenzhen branch recorded similar growth last year, albeit from a “relatively low base”.