Cities: Shaping Action through Emerging Young Leaders and an Intergenerational Conversation
Future City Summit Annual Meet 2019 in Hong Kong
Hosted at the Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong from 1st — 3rd August, Future City Summit’s Annual 2019 Conference brought together over 140 delegates and guests from 20 countries in Asia and Africa including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, Nigeria, Hong Kong and Mainland China to explore issues of global development, technology and urban governance across a network of emerging cities.
The Summit highlighted and welcomed high profile guests such as His Excellency Arth Bryan Celeste, Mayor of Alaminos Pangasinan of the Philippines, Mr. Kazunao Sato, Senior Strategy Director of Dentsu Inc., Mr. D.M.S.M. Dissanayake, Director(Sabaragamuwa Province) of Urban Development Authority of Sri Lanka and his delegations, and His Excellency Nart A. Kolo., Consul General of Nigeria in Hong Kong SAR and Macau, where they engaged in high-end development project roadshows presented by various authorities and emerging economies for project vetting and pipeline development with resources.
Now in its fourth year, this year’s theme,“The Metamorphosis of A City through Success of Legacy”, explored intergenerational conversations cross cutting topics including “the Future of Economy”, “the Future of Urban Design” and “The Future of Entertainment and Lifestyle.”The sessions spotlighted speakers such as His Excellency Arth Bryan Celeste, Mayor of Alaminos Pangasinan of the Philippines, Mr. Isaya Yunge, Tanzanian Awardee of The Queen’s Fellowship 2018 and Mr. Ryuta Taniguchi, Business Producer, Value Design Department, BD&A Division. at Dentsu Inc.
“Entrepreneurial DNA is crucial … the element and personality of leadership with fearlessness shall guide us toward a better city and drive urban innovation alongside with technologies in the future.” — Opening Keynote of the Summit, Mr. Mark Barnekow, Executive Director, The University of Chicago, Hong Kong.
The Annual Meet was hosted in collaboration with The University of Chicago, Chicago Booth Business School, Chicago Booth Angels Network in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, Qianhai Authority and Dentsu Inc. Various sessions of the Summit were also co-hosted by KPMG China(“Future of Economy”) and Generation T (“Future of Entertainment and Lifestyle”), with thought leaders from a wide spectrum of stakeholders includingJones Lang LaSalle (JLL), GreaterBay Ventures & Advisors, K11 Concepts, FWD Insurance, Creta Ventures, Start Hong Kong, Financial Times, and the HKEX Innovation Lab. Representatives of startups included Pearl Pay, WHub, Tribe Theory, and Nanjing Tamo Technology, while public sector representatives included the Urban Development Authority of Sri Lanka, Roxas Kalaw Foundation, YY Goshti and the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines.
“While the City of Hundreds Islands, Alaminos, is becoming a more entrepreneurial community, the office and I envision stronger regional partnerships among stakeholders from technology startups and impact investors which promote visits, exchanges and collaborations for better city development,” — His Excellency Arth Bryan Celeste, Mayor of Alaminos Pangasinan of the Philippines.
Future City Summit Annual Meet 2019, aligned 8 roadshows for promising startups from emerging markets such as Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, diving into industry segments including Financial Technologies, Urban Development, Infrastructure, Big Data and Smart Cities. The meetings lined up impact investors from Hong Kong SAR, Greater Bay Area of China, South Korea and Singapore. Highlighted partners such as Dentsu Inc., Widus Partners, Chicago Booth Angels Network and Smart City Consortium Hong Kong participated to advise project development and implement longer term value creation through strategic partnership.
Future City Summit Annual Meet 2019 in Qianhai, Shenzhen
Following the summit delegates toured Shenzhen on 4th — 6th August in Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation And Entrepreneur Hub. 80 of the delegates and guests continued the journey in Shenzhen after Hong Kong to visit the leading startup ecosystem Youth Innovation And Entrepreneur Hub(“E-Hub”) and ZTE Corporation.
“Greater Bay Area is dedicated to becoming the next hub of impact investing and development for emerging economies. The Bay Area connects emerging cities along the Belt and Road, and we welcome projects and stakeholders landing here for raising development finance and looking for the right strategic partners around the world.” — Professor Witman Hung, JP, the Hong Kong Deputy to 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) and Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority.
The Summit by a keynote of the Greater Bay Area Development Plan by Professor Witman Hung, JP, and a Special Panel on Affordable Smart City Development in emerging economies with remarks from Mr. Biman Liyanage, Sri Lankan Forbes 30 Under 30 Awardee and Mr. Shazeeb M Khairul Islam, Managing Director of YY Ventures Limited from Bangladesh.
Greater Emerging Future Cities Network — Beyond Impact And Development Finance For Frontier Economies
With the establishment of “The Emerging Future Cities Network” in Guangzhou at Future City Summit’s Annual Meet 2018, the stakeholders and active member cities in the network shaped project pipelines through development programs including the “Public Private Partnership by Youth” in Bali, Manila and Bangkok over the past 8 months, across industries from tourism to hospitality, urban development, rural banking, food, and entertainment.
The Summit drew to a close with the signing ceremony of the “Greater Emerging Future Cities Network” with 16 members including Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria, with signatories from both public and private sectors. The Network represents the consolidation of development project pipelines with development finance and stakeholders driving impact investment and development.
As FCS continues to scale, future conferences will be held in cities including Kuala Lumpur, Iskandar Puteri, Karachi, Yangon, and New Delhi.
Social Business, Technologies And Young Energy For Cities — Social Business Youth Summit 2020 In Hong Kong And Greater Bay Area
Future City Summit and YY Gosht signed a special memorandum of understanding at the completion of the Summit in Shenzhen, with the witness of Prof. Witman Hung JP.
This moment witnessed the soft announcement of the upcoming youth summit on Social Business in 2020 which will be hosted in Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area, curated in collaboration with Prof. Muhammad Yunus, pinoneer of micro-finance, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2006, with a vision to attract regional impact investors, philanthropies, social entrepreneurs, public policy leaders and other stakeholders in the region.
The youth summit in 2020 aims to leverage development finance and projects to the higher end of impact through high principals of impact and socio-economic development.
