Scheme boosts green fintech in HK

The seminar on “Green Fintech: Catalyst for Scaling Sustainable Finance”, which focused on green finance technology, was one of the key events of Hong Kong Green Week held by the Government earlier this year. During the event, the Green & Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group announced the Prototype Hong Kong Green Fintech Map, providing one-stop information on the current status of green fintech companies in Hong Kong and related services, with a view to raising the companies’ profile. Currently, over 50 enterprises are featured on the map.

To encourage the industry to develop more fintech projects and promote their commercialisation, we are now launching the brand new Green & Sustainable Fintech Proof-of-Concept Funding Support Scheme, which is modelled after the Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme. Administered by Cyberport, this scheme will provide early-stage funding to support technology companies or research institutes which are registered and have commenced business in Hong Kong, and conduct green fintech activities, to collaborate with local enterprises (such as financial institutions, listed companies, carbon credit entities etc), which can benefit from adopting the green and sustainable fintech solutions, to co-develop new projects in the market that can address industry pain points. The scheme aims to facilitate the solutions concerned to complete the commercialisation and proof-of-concept stage, so as to enable wider adoption of green and sustainable fintech solutions with potential in the business landscape of Hong Kong.

The scheme covers five key areas which fulfil the goal of integrating fintech and sustainable development. They are (i) green and digital finance and investment; (ii) ESG (environmental, social and governance) disclosure, compliance and regulatory reporting; (iii) carbon trading, analytics and technology; (iv) ESG data, intelligence and analytics; and (v) ESG/climate risk modelling and assessment. The maximum grant for each approved project is $150,000.

Technology and sustainable development are the major forces shaping the future of the financial industry. We are confident that the new scheme can accelerate the comprehensive development of green fintech in Hong Kong, raising enterprises’ motivation in adopting green fintech, further promoting Hong Kong’s position as a green fintech hub in Asia. The application period of the scheme will run from June 28 to September 20 and Cyberport will release application details shortly. I encourage eligible green fintech companies and enterprises to join hands to participate in the scheme, make good use of the funding support, and let your green and sustainable fintech solutions lead the green transformation of businesses.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui wrote this article and posted it on his blog on June 28.