The Hon Carrie Lam, GBM, GBS

The Chief Executive

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China

I am pleased to welcome you to the 2020 Business of Intellectual Property (BIP) Asia Forum, among the Asia-Pacific region’s leading annual events in the intellectual property (IP) industry.

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Forum under the theme “Open Innovation: Driving Collaboration in Times of Change”. In the daunting face of the COVID-19 pandemic, collaboration and innovation have never been more important. This year’s Forum, which takes place virtually for the first time, is an opportune moment to take stock of IP’s immense capacity to reward those willing to reach out for innovative ideas, fresh partnerships, new markets and novel ways of doing business. Some 60 high-profile speakers are taking part in the two-day Forum’s keynote discussions, plenaries and Global Tech Summit, as well as a wide variety of breakout sessions. They include a welcome spotlight on IP business opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Forum also features an exhibition zone and is the signature event in Innovation & IP Week, which began in November and continues through the week following BIP Asia Forum.

While Hong Kong has been severely challenged, at home and abroad, over the past year and more, we remain one of the world’s leading international financial centres. We are, and will continue to be, a free economy firmly founded on the rule of law. Our many advantages include the free flow of capital, information and people and deep connections with Mainland China and the rest of the world.

My Government puts a high priority on innovation and technology, on developing Hong Kong into a knowledge-based economy ideally placed for IP commercialisation and trading. And as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area gathers momentum, so, too, will the singular opportunities it brings to Hong Kong, in IP and so much else.

I wish you a rewarding BIP Asia Forum and the best of business in the coming year.