The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Berlin (HKETO Berlin) supported a networking lunch organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) on September 21 (Berlin time) together with Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), Germany Trade and Invest and Berlin Partner.
The event brought together health professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors from Germany and Hong Kong. It was dedicated to fostering innovation, collaboration, and investment between Germany and Hong Kong, with a special focus on start-ups and healthcare.
Acting Director of HKETO Berlin, Miss Bonnie Ka, outlined Hong Kong's unique role as a gateway for German companies to enter the Chinese market. "As an international financial centre, Hong Kong is now Asia's largest and the world's second-largest fundraising hub for biotech companies, with 57 pre-revenue or pre-profit biotech and healthcare companies listed in Hong Kong since 2018, raising over EUR13 billion," she explained.
Same as Germany and many other advanced economies, Hong Kong is facing an ageing population and a shortage of healthcare manpower. To tackle these challenges, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government published the Primary Healthcare Blueprint last December, which outlines a structural reform to shift its healthcare focus from treatment-oriented to prevention-focused, and from hospital-based to community-based.
"We are working on promoting the use of telehealth services, introducing a new medication delivery system, enhancing services by developing 'smart hospitals' and improving our hospital infrastructure. As well, eHealth and healthcare innovation are top priorities for us," Miss Ka continued.
Head, Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of InvestHK in Berlin, Dr Chung Wing-hin, added that, "Hong Kong with its world-class healthcare system and large capital market makes it the ideal location for healthcare and biotechnology companies from all over the world to set up their Asian headquarters."
These latest developments have opened up different business opportunities for German companies in the healthcare sector.
About HKETO Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
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