Overview
The selected Edventures GBA Fellows will be invited to join a study tour to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou from 11 – 17 Oct 2023, with the travelling and accommodation expenses covered. During the 6-day programme, the Fellows will meet market entry advisors, potential go-to-market partners, customers, funders and key EdTech ecosystem builders in southern China. They will present their solutions at the Edventures Summit in Hong Kong and a seminar organised by JMDedu (China’s leading EdTech intelligence platform) in Shenzhen. There will also be visits to schools and enterprises.
Arrival in Hong Kong
Meetings, visits, Edventures GBA Summit in Hong Kong
Shenzhen City Tour
Meetings, visits and JMDedu seminar in Shenzhen
Meetings and visits in Guangzhou
Depart
Apart from the Edventures GBA Fellows, education thought leaders, representatives of leading EdTech associations and renowned EdTech journalists will also gather in Hong Kong in mid-October. It will be a valuable opportunity to meet the who’s who in the global EdTech ecosystem.
Hong Kong and GBA
The Chinese government has a strategic plan to build Asia’s Silicon Valley out of a cluster of 11 massive, hyper-connected, prosperous cities in South China. The city cluster, called the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is the world’s 11th largest economy, ahead of Russia and just behind Canada. It is also one of the most prosperous regions of China, with a population of over 70 million and a GDP of USD1.5 trillion – 2 times the value of the San Francisco Bay Area. The region is home to 3 of the world’s top 50 universities and tech behemoths like Tencent, Huawei, and DJI. It finances, manufactures and ships more products than any other similar place on earth.
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China with its own currency (HKD) pegged to the US dollar and a common law system. It is the most cosmopolitan Chinese city and China’s window to international finance, legal arbitration and professional services. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a leading IPO market in the world. Hong Kong also has one of the world’s lowest tax rates and the world’s highest density of ultra-high net worth individuals. Over the recent years, Hong Kong has developed itself into an Asian startup hub, with close to 4,000 startups operating in the region. Entrepreneurs cite its convenience, efficiency and energy as some of the main reasons for relocating here to launch their ambitions. Hong Kongers are known for their resilience, resourcefulness, efficiency and can-do spirit. They are also one of the most trend conscious and tech savvy. Notwithstanding a small domestic market, Hong Kong makes a perfect testing bed for new products and services. The city has a diverse education system with local and international schools following different curricula, making it an ideal launch pad to other parts of Asia. EdTech businesses can develop and validate products across many education systems in Hong Kong before launching them in other countries overseas.
Hong Kong is also a regional education hub for higher education. The University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Science and Technology University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong are ranked in the world’s top 50 and Asia’s top 10 by the Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings. Hong Kong universities also host some of the world’s best business administration and executive business management programmes.
The Hong Kong SAR Government has promulgated an ambitious Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, with a focus on developing and attracting AI talents and enterprises as one of the city’s strategic growth pillars. It has established a Co-Investment Fund to attract enterprises to set up operations in Hong Kong and invest in their business. The HKSAR Government will also launch a Strategic Tech Fund to invest in fast growing technology ventures (Series A and B) that have strategic value to Hong Kong, and are conducive to enriching the technology ecosystem. Recently Hong Kong has renewed its efforts to develop itself into a centre for global family offices and asset owners.
Shenzhen is the R&D and innovation hub of the GBA. Known as the Silicon Valley of China, it is the home of Chinese tech giants like Tencent, Huawei and DJI. Its investment in research and development is one of the world’s highest, matched only by South Korea and Israel. Shenzhen is known for its strong AI and robotics expertise, much of which can be leveraged in the area of education innovation, and is also home to numerous accelerators and incubators.
Guangzhou is the capital of China’s southern most province with a population of 18.8M. As the provincial capital, Guangzhou is the political, economic, technology, education and cultural centre of the Guangdong Province. There are more than 80 universities, over one million college students, and more than 10 000 high-tech enterprises.
Make a Side Trip to India
India is the second largest market for e-learning after the US with a market size of $6 billion, and is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2025. The Indian EdTech market has undergone tremendous growth in recent years, driven by the high internet and mobile device penetration, increased online content consumption and growing demand for learning opportunities from a young population and its professionals.
The Edventures GBA Fellows can take the opportunity to make a side trip to Didac India, the largest education exhibition and conference in Asia and the only in India. This three-day event (17 – 19 Oct 2023) will feature over 250 exhibitors from India and 20 countries, with 19000+ buyers from over 30 countries and 1800 conference delegates from across the globe. For more information, please visit the Didac India website. Edventures GBA Fellows exhibiting at the event can enjoy a discounted rate.