HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 17 December 2021 - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is forming a series of strategic partnerships with global leaders such as leading technology distributor and solutions provider Avnet and diversified financial services group ORIX to foster a new wave of engineering talent and fast-rising startups in the advanced hardware and digital technologies sectors. The combination of technology, manufacturing market know-how and investment financier will propel promising startups on their growth journey and establish the Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a leading innovation hub for advanced hardware and digital technologies.

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Photo 1: Mr. Peter Mok, Head of Greater Bay Area, HKSTP (right), and Mr. Alan Chui, Supplier Business Management President, Avnet Asia, officiate at the strategic co-incubation agreement signing ceremony to drive innovation and build a thriving hardware and electronics eco-system across the GBA.

Located at the centre of the world's leading manufacturing powerhouse with Shenzhen and the huge market potential of China at its doorstep, Hong Kong and the broader GBA region is a haven for hardware and digital technologies startups. But challenges remain in accessing funding, market support, talent and manufacturing R&D expertise, especially for niche and emerging technology areas. Aviation is one new area among many in which HKSTP is collaborating with sector leaders on to develop Hong Kong and the GBA into an innovation and technology hub.

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Photo 2: Mr. Peter Mok, Head of Greater Bay Area, HKSTP (middle), Mr. Alan Chui, Supplier Business Management President, Avnet Asia (3^rd from left), and Mr Adrian Pang, Managing Director, ORIX Asia Limited (4^th from right), join fellow industry leaders and ecosystem participants in the official activation ceremony at the Hardware Journey Eco-System � GBA Expansion Kickoff Event.

HKSTP and Avnet have formally signed a co-incubation agreement to combine Avnet's design and technical expertise with HKSTP's extensive startup development experience to propel technical talent and startups on their journey of growth. Selected startups can leverage Avnet's global ecosystem and network to capture new partnerships and market opportunity in the GBA region. For a start, Avnet will also partner microelectronics leaders AMD, TE Connectivity and Xilinx to provide startups with expertise in aviation and next-generation Hybrid CPU-FPGA technology and significant support in accelerating their innovation from research to testing and high-quality manufacturing.

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To drive momentum in this emerging ecosystem, HKSTP is also partnering Japanese financial services group ORIX to tap its financial and investment expertise to help startups go global and to engage the high-potential Japanese market. ORIX is a strategic partner in HKSTP's GBA expansion and focus on new digital solution innovation, with its continued investments into high quality startups. The formation of such partnerships will be a further catalyst to accelerate innovation in the ecosystem, with aviation as a high-potential starting point.

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Albert Wong, CEO, HKSTP said: "Our partnerships with multiple sector leaders highlight the enormous market potential in the GBA and provide the ideal platform for startups to tap into the world-class talent, resources and market opportunities in this region. This combined ecosystem of hardware and electronics expertise will help young pioneers and engineers realise their innovation dreams and elevate the GBA as a global innovation powerhouse."

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Alan Chui, Supplier Business Management President of Avnet Asia said, "Avnet is a long-term partner of HKSTP and has jointly supported many startup companies. Through this agreement, we will be able to equip startups and aspiring technologists with the necessary knowledge and resources to accelerate technological innovation in the GBA and facilitate the commercialisation of real-world applications."

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Adrian Pang, Managing Director, ORIX Asia Limited said: "We, ORIX, believe digital technologies are the key future driver and trend. With our diversified expertise, global network and wealthy experience in supporting SMEs and startups, ORIX is well positioned to incubate young companies through our partnership with HKSTP, which we will bring synergy to our dynamic future unicorn in Hong Kong and lead our economy to a new decade."

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This diverse hardware eco-system will see prominent developments like Avnet setting up solutions centre at Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch that will provide local and international startups easy access to state-of-the-art engineering facilities offered by Avnet and its partners. There will also be on-site application engineers to offer technical solutions, reference designs and consultancy services to enable these startups to get their products to market faster. Fast-rising HKSTP startup Aerosim, who specialises in aviation training technology, will leverage the centre for aviation simulation technology adoption support. Avnet and its partners will also contribute their hardware components knowledge and work with Aerosim to develop civil aviation technology.

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Talent is a critical factor for successful innovation and HKSTP is providing a technology knowledge exchange platform in the GBA to nurture entrepreneurs in high quality hardware components. The HKSTP GBA InnoAcademy will serve as a talent training platform for the best entrepreneurs and engineers to fuel a new wave of technical talent from Hong Kong and the GBA.

About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has for 20 continuous years committed to building up Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global pioneers today and tomorrow. HKSTP has established a thriving I&T ecosystem that is home to three unicorns and Hong Kong's leading R&D hub with over 11,000 research professionals and over 1,000 technology companies focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.

Established in 2001, we attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation and technology for entrepreneurs on their journey of growth in Hong Kong, to the Greater Bay Area, Asia and beyond. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of the Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern INNOPARKs in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three INNOPARKs are realizing a vision of re-industrialisation for Hong Kong. The goal is sectors like advanced manufacturing, electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined for a new generation of industry.

Through our infrastructure, services, expertise and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish innovation and technology as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong, while reinforcing Hong Kong's international I&T hub status as a launchpad for global growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.

More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org

About Avnet

As a leading global technology distributor and solutions provider, Avnet has served customers' evolving needs for an entire century. We support customers at each stage of a product's lifecycle, from idea to design and from prototype to production. Our unique position at the center of the technology value chain enables us to accelerate the design and supply stages of product development so customers can realize revenue faster. Decade after decade, Avnet helps its customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com/apac.

About Orix

ORIX Asia Limited ("ORIX Asia") was established in Hong Kong in 1971, which is a wholly owned subsidiary and the first overseas venture of ORIX Corporation. ORIX Corporation ("ORIX") (Tokyo Stock Exchange (8591) and New York Stock Exchange (IX)), based in Tokyo Japan, is a giant financial conglomerate connecting more than 30 countries and regions worldwide, providing innovative financial products and services to both corporate and retail customers. Our business portfolio includes but not limits to leasing, corporate finance, real estate, private equity investment, automobile-related business, environment and energy, banking and insurance.

ORIX Asia, being a Restricted Licence Bank in Hong Kong (an authorized institution regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority), has over 50 years of experience in serving our community and we are dedicated to grow with our customers and economy in Hong Kong. ORIX Asia, together with our group's affiliated entities, we strive to be a market differentiator in Hong Kong and to offer innovative and diversified one-stop financial services to our valued customers.

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