The 6th Greater Bay Area (GBA) Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award Ceremony was held simultaneously in Macao and Hong Kong on Monday, with 79 young entrepreneurs from Macao, Hong Kong and Guangdong receiving honours
A total of 8 Macao residents were recognised at the event. They included the winners of the Outstanding Young Entrepreneur awards: Si Iong Iong, the hotel director of Lok Fu Enterprise Holdings Limited; Jones Chong Cho Lam, the founder and director of Chessman Entertainment Production; Ng Nga Fan, the director of the electric heating company San Chan Wai; Lin Jiebiao, the director-general of Guangdong Yixiang Investment Limited; Ng Wa Wai, the director of the Ng Kam Kee Construction Company, and Ho Weng Tai, the executive director of the Springrise Group.
As well, two local entrepreneurs bagged a Best Cultural Innovation award: Amy Ng Si In, the executive director and general manager of Zhuhai Silver Bullet Valley Technology (Zhuhai, Hengqin), and Ieong Hong Wai, the CEO of the professional and corporate service firm, 369 Coop Town.
During the event, Cai Guanshen, the chairman of the organiser – the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Alliance – reviewed the awards’ achievements, noting over 500 of the best young entrepreneurs from the GBA had been selected across the 6 instalments, with each edition featuring a pool of around 3,000 applicants.
“They are the new generation of leaders in the business sector, bringing new vitality to the GBA,” Cai said.
Similar remarks were made by Tai Kin Ip, Macao’s secretary of economy and finance, who said in a pre-recorded speech that he encouraged young business people to “take advantage of the opportunities” and “face challenges” in order to bring creativity and vitality to the GBA.
“The SAR government is actively building a high-quality platform that is conducive to young people innovating and engaging in entrepreneurship,” Tai said. “The purpose is to allow them to realise their dreams in Hengqin and even within the entire GBA.”
[See more: Macao Businesses are being encouraged to move to Hengqin. Here’s how it’s going for three of them]
In a video address, the chief executive of Hong Kong, John Lee, similarly spoke about the efforts that his administration had been implementing to spur entrepreneurship among young people in the region.
“Last year, the [Hong Kong] SAR government launched a new round of financial schemes for GBA young entrepreneurs on the basis of the youth development fund,” Lee said, adding that the fund had successfully helped to cultivate more than 200 young entrepreneurial teams during its run so far.
Algernon Yau Ying-wah, Hong Kong’s secretary for commerce and economic development, also spoke at the event. He pledged to continue implementing new measures, including a programme for young talent cultivation that provides youth with more opportunities for internships via international organisations and conferences.
Some 3,000 people participated in the ceremony either online or offline. Some of the Macao attendees included Yang Quanzhou, the deputy head of China’s Economic Affairs Liaison Office in Macao; Che Weng Keong, the chair of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute’s administrative committee, and Ho Teng Iat, the head of the Women’s General Association of Macau.
First organised by the GBA Entrepreneurs Alliance in 2020, the GBA Outstanding Young Entrepreneur Award recognises young talents in the business sector with awards across six categories – outstanding young entrepreneur, best entrepreneurship project, best sci-tech technology innovation project, best business service award, best CSR award and best cultural innovation award.
Sponsoring organisations include the Hong Kong University Business School, the University of Macau, the City University of Hong Kong and Jinnan University.
