HKTE’s Felix Chan: Hong Kong's next talent opportunity lies in helping global innovators scale across the GBA

In this exclusive conversation with HRO, HKTE Director Felix Chan explains what matters to global entrepreneurs when choosing where to grow their businesses.

When global entrepreneurs evaluate expansion opportunities in Asia, financing support is no longer the only consideration. They are increasingly looking for different things that will help them to establish and grow their businesses, Felix Chan, Director of Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE), tells HRO exclusively.

Founders are now increasingly prioritising factors such as intellectual property protection, supply chain support, manufacturing capabilities, commercialisation opportunities, and access to new customers and markets.

The comments came after Chan met a delegation of 20 young European tech talent at Cyberport on 11 September 2026. Prior to the meeting, the group had visited Hong Kong, Qianhai in Shenzhen, and Nansha in Guangzhou from 7 to 11 September to learn about the innovation and technology (I&T) ecosystem, industry support, and opportunities across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The delegation comprised winners of an I&T hackathon, which was co-organised by HKTE and the EuroTech Federation in Germany in June this year, and representatives from the federation. The competition attracted 1,200 applicants from 25 countries and focused on four key areas: AI and robotics, health tech, fintech, and smart city solutions.

What global tech entrepreneurs are looking for

Chan says one of the most significant outcomes of the tour has been the opportunity to show delegates how Hong Kong's resources could help them turn some of the business cases they did before the competition into reality.

“They want to diversify and see if there are opportunities outside Europe,” he says, emphasising that Hong Kong's position within the wider GBA offers startups a platform to build, commercialise, and scale their businesses across the region.

To showcase those opportunities, delegates were introduced to three innovation parks in Hong Kong, including Cyberport, Hong Kong Science Park, and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park, as well as learning more about the Northern Metropolis development plans.

While financing is an obvious consideration, Chan notes that startups are also looking for business partners, industry connections, and professional networks that can help accelerate growth and market expansion. In this aspect, HKTE has been working with different departments across the HKSAR Government and industry partners together to provide those connections.

Meanwhile, he stresses that supporting entrepreneurial talent goes beyond helping people start businesses.

“When we are talking about supporting talents and entrepreneurs to grow in this region, it’s not just about working, it’s also about living,” he says. This includes practical support related to visas, housing, schools, and helping international talent settle into life in Hong Kong.

Building bridges between Europe, Hong Kong, and GBA

Speaking to the media after meeting the delegation, Chris Sun, Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour and Welfare, described the tour as a way to expose young tech talent directly to opportunities across Hong Kong and the wider GBA, allowing participants to experience the region's innovation ecosystem, industry environment, and growth potential firsthand. According to Sun, participants had been impressed by what they saw during the visit.

Photo by HRO

In response to HRO’s question about the significance of the delegation visit, Sun said the tour is aimed to create a close collaboration between Hong Kong and Europe, especially among the younger generations.

“Hong Kong is a talent hub right now, and we are drawing a lot of people with different backgrounds into Hong Kong. For this tour, it is a very special one because we are targeting the young people, who are very young entrepreneurs from Europe.”

He added that bringing together young innovators from different regions and backgrounds could lead to valuable exchanges of ideas and perspectives.

“Young people, of course, share a lot in common, but given their backgrounds and different education exposures, if we bring the young people here in Hong Kong and the GBA, with their counterparts from Europe, we are sure there will be a lot of cross-fertilisation of ideas. Each of them can learn from the other side of it. We believe the end result will be something very exciting and we look forward to it.”

Turning innovation into impact

Looking ahead, Chan believes there are significant opportunities for deeper collaboration between Hong Kong and Europe.

He says Hong Kong's strengths as a global financial centre, ‘super value-adder’, and ‘super connector’ between Mainland China and international markets provide a unique foundation for attracting entrepreneurs and innovation talent.

“We always say Hong Kong is the only city in the world which offers both China and global growth advantages – that is very unique.”

At the same time, in terms of technology, while Hong Kong has strong research capabilities and world-ranked universities, Chan believes there is significant room for learning and collaboration between Hong Kong and Europe, particularly in moving innovations from research to commercialisation.

“There are a lot of areas that we need collaborations with Europe, not only research from zero to one, but more importantly from one to 100. For example, how to commercialise the R&D into a product or service and then how to scale this product and service so that it can expand to find new markets and customers,” he concludes.

“The Northern Metropolis will provide new opportunities for us to convert the R&D into commercialisation and also to scale the products given the priority access to the GBA. That's why this time we invite talents from Europe.

“We welcome talents globally who can make an impact to help us achieve our mission of being an international innovation and technology centre in Asia.”

Photos / Hong Kong Talent Engage & HRO