Former Cyberport Chairman George Lam and former Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology David Chung crowned prestigious Iconic Stars

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 29 September 2022 - Organized by the Institute of Financial Technologists of Asia (IFTA), the IFTA FinTech Achievement Awards 2021/2022 Presentation Ceremony was held today (29 September 2022) at Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui. Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Mr Joseph Chan, JP attended as the Guest of Honour of the Ceremony. Chair, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Sustainable Business Network & Former Chairman, Hong Kong Cyberport Dr George Lam and Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology Dr David Chung received the prestigious Iconic Star awards.

In its fourth edition, the IFTA FinTech Achievement Awards (the Awards) of this year was themed "Two Worlds, One Goal: The Virtualisation of Reality" to recognise the important nuances of parallel worlds both physical and virtual, as well as, the role that corporations and individuals play in their development within the economy. This year, the Awards were restructured with 2 additional sub-categories. Metaverse, NFT and Decentralised Finance (DeFi), is added as sub-categories to Corporate Achievements awards.

A new Team of the Year sub-category is added to the award category Outstanding Financial Technologists of the Year to recognise the outstanding financial technologist team(s) who delivered extraordinary FinTech solutions.

Last but not least, a brand-new award category, the Honorary FinTech Education & Talent Development Awards is also added to recognise organisations that have made remarkable contributions in schooling FinTech talents.

This year, 37 nominees/nominated teams were shortlisted into 13 award categories, of which, the newly added "Metaverse, NFT, And DeFi (Decentralised Finance)" category received the most entries.

Specially introduced in this edition, the prestigious "Iconic Star" award honours invaluable contribution of long serving fintech industry leaders. The winners are Dr George Lam, BBS, JP, Chair, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Sustainable Business Network & Former Chairman, Hong Kong Cyberport, and Dr David Chung Wai-keung, Former Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology.

During his time as the former Chairman of the Cyberport, Dr George Lam had brought his rich industry experience to lead the Cyberport's vision to train technology talents, encourage entrepreneurships, nurture start-ups. Whilest Dr David Chung has spared no effort in strengthening the industry-academia-research collaboration during his tenure as the Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology, HKSAR, proming the development of innovative technology as well as high-end manufacturing industries. Both of them contributed to create a vibrant innovation and technolgy ecosystem in Hong Kong for the benefit of the local community.

Chair, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Sustainable Business Network & Former Chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport, Dr George Lam, BBS, JP mentioned in his speech, "With government policy, incentives and keen efforts of everybody. We have seen the arrival of eight virtual banks, four virtual insurance companies, and a number of e-wallet companies and more coming. Going forward, I see fintech is becoming even more important as we make early improvements in regulator tech, wealth tech, in ESG, Green finance, digital asset, carbon trading, all of which are necessary for Hong Kong to transform ourselves from international financial center to a global capital center."

Former Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology Dr David Chung Wai-keung says, "It's really been a wonderful journey in the past 20 years of public administration. I would say thank you to all of you for giving me such a great opportunity to work in Hong Kong, such a wonderful place. Today we have laid down the foundation and all of you contributed to the success of the Fintech industry in Hong Kong. Whatever my role would be in the near future, I will continue to dedicate myself to the fintech development of Hong Kong and the region, create more impactful projects for talent development, and also create more opportunities for Hong Kong."

Officiating guest of the Ceremony, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong SAR Government Mr Joseph Chan, JP mentions, "As you may be aware and as I introduced this last year in the IFTA's FinTech Achievement Awards presentation ceremony, the Government launched a Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme in 2021 to support fintech development in Hong Kong. We provided financial incentives to financial institutions to partner with fintech companies to put forth and test innovative and practical products and services. The response was very positive, and we had received 160 applications, with over 90 projects approved last year, benefitting over 70 fintech companies and financial institutions. Many of the subsidized projects were related to WealthTech, RegTech and InsurTech; some emerging aspects such as payment systems, ESG; as well as cross-boundary data analysis and overseas remittances, etc, were also covered. As a result, we will be launching another round of the scheme in October this year, which would be even more attractive as the coverage is expanded to provide funding not just to fintech companies partnering with financial institutions, but also research institutions. The subsidy for each approved project has also been increased to $150,000 to as high as $400,000."

"As IFTA, we have continued to adapt and keep up with professional talent training programmes and activities, to promote the importance and uphold the standard of Fintech, also providing Fintech professionals and building up our own Fintech community." IFTA Founder and Chairman Mr Paul Pong said. "This year, IFTA is delighted to announce our collaboration with The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) to roll out the Certified FinTech Practitioner Programme. It is a ground-breaking new programme developed jointly by The London Institute of Banking & Finance and LendIt Fintech. Also, it is an interactive course which will provide expert knowledge of the evolution and impact of fintech, keep up professional training for the future FinTech practitioners and solve the problem of talent shortage."

At the FinTech Achievement Awards 2021/2022 Presentation Ceremony today, 22 corporate achievement awards and 15 individual and team awards were presented.

As an organization representing fintech professionals in Hong Kong, IFTA is committed to following the government policy of promoting the collaboration among the government, industry, academic and research sectors in the innovation and technology industry.

Winners of Corporate Achievements in FinTech (for corporates, NGOs, and start-ups)

Outstanding Financial Technologists of the Year (for individuals and teams)

The Prestige Award (recommended by the organiser and/or jury panel)

Honorary FinTech Education & Talent Development Awards

Iconic Star

Click here to download high-res pictures of the event:

1. Speech by Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong SAR Government Mr Joseph Chan, JP
2. The two IFTA founders and officiating guests congratulated the two winners of the "Iconic Star" award. (From left to right: IFTA Co-founder and Vice-Chairman Mr Wilson Kwok, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hong Kong SAR Government Mr Joseph Chan, JP, Chair of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Sustainable Business Network & Former Chairman of Hong Kong Cyberport, Dr George Lam, JP, BBS, Former Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology Dr David Chung Wai-keung, Head Juror of IFTA FinTech Achievement Awards, Dr Charleston Sin, IFTA Founder and Chairman Mr Paul Pong).

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About IFTA

The Institute of Financial Technologists of Asia Limited (IFTA) is an NPO established in Hong Kong in September 2017; to uphold the professional standard of Financial Technologists in Asia and create an ecosystem for global fintech talents to be connected.

IFTA entered a collaboration agreement with The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF), to roll out the Certified Fintech Parctitioner, CFP program in Asia. Besides delivering certification, IFTA also organises events including boot camps, seminars, and an annual award to accelerate Fintech education and industry engagement among government, regulators, universities, enterprises, and start-ups.