Almost lost in the excitement of last week’s Hong Kong Fintech Week is an announcement of the launch of the Hong Kong Youth FinTech Association, which has, among its aims and goals, nurturing a new generation of “patriotic fintech talents,” according to a media statement provided by the new association.
The statement listed, as guests of honor for last week’s inauguration event for this new youth association, the chairman of consultancy Deloitte China as well as several mainland Chinese and Hong Kong government officials.
The new association said in the statement its mission is to “cultivate a new generation of Hong Kong patriotic fintech talents, in order to consolidate and sustain Hong Kong’s position as a global financial center, and to connect fintech companies in Hong Kong across different industry sectors, and to support Hong Kong’s development as a world-class smart city in the future.”
Calvin Choi, founding chairman of the new association and chairman of investment banking and asset management firm AMTD Group, said in the statement: “Through this platform, we will guide Hong Kong’s youth to better embrace innovation, creative thinking, appreciation of Hong Kong’s strategic positioning and strengths … and deepen their roots in Hong Kong while contributing to our country.”
“Our association would strive to nurture a new generation of patriotic fintech talents in Hong Kong who love both our country and our Hong Kong homeland,” Choi said.
The statement did not specify what patriotic fintech talents are referred to. Choi could not be reached for an interview as of press time, and the media contact could not immediately provide further details.
The establishment of the new association comes as Hong Kong’s disaffected post-protest youth and recent statistics are suggesting a brain drain in the city’s future. Notably, nearly 90,000 residents had left Hong Kong amid a wave of emigration in the year after the national security law was imposed, representing a significant 1.2% shrink in the city’s population, the South China Morning Post reported in August.
A study conducted by Youth Ideas, a major youth organization in the city, suggested that Hong Kong could witness a brain drain in the next five years. About a quarter of university-educated residents under the age of 35 were planning to leave the city to work elsewhere, according to a March Business Standard report citing the survey.
On top of that, an April survey showed that almost 60% of Hong Kong youth, between the ages of 15 and 30, wanted to emigrate if possible, the SCMP reported.
Even pre-schools are shrinking. Official figures showed that local public schools have cut at least 81 Primary One classes this academic year, the SCMP’s Young Post reported last month.