Speech by the Chief Executive Officer at Kick-off Ceremony for E-mobility Ecosystem Partnership Supporting Hong Kong’s Green Tech Expansion Abroad (22 August 2024)
Financial Secretary, Consul-General of Thailand Mr Chaturont, Alan, Vincent, Will, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to attend the Kick-off Ceremony for E-mobility Ecosystem Partnership Supporting Hong Kong’s Green Tech Expansion Abroad.
As part of this strategic partnership, we are pleased to announce our investment into Spark EV, which is a joint venture company with the strategic mission to bring together the home-grown electric vehicle (“EV”) infrastructure technology from Hong Kong, and the business application opportunities in Thailand offered by Bangchak Corporation Public Limited (“BCP”). This is the first overseas initiative announced by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (“HKIC”). With such collaboration, Spark aspires to become one of the top 3 major EV charging brands in Thailand by 2026.
The HKIC’s Journey
To recap, as “patient capital”, the HKIC has been pressing ahead with our dual mandate, namely to seek reasonable financial return over the medium to long term, and more importantly, to enhance the long-term competitiveness and economic vitality of Hong Kong. We are committed to nurturing “new productive forces” by way of, among other things, supporting the development of innovation and technology (“I&T”), strategic industries and their ecosystems.
From our announced deals ranging from SmartMore, BioMap, Galbot to Spark today, let me share a few highlights:
(i)
first, the HKIC’s efforts have been focusing on Hard & Core Technology, Biotech, and New Energy/Green Technology. The projects I mentioned were the ones that we had announced. A lot more have been ongoing;
(ii)
second, we invest in companies at different developmental stages, with investment terms and forms being designed in an agile manner and on a case by case basis; and
(iii)
equally importantly, we invest in projects and with partners from around the world, be it in the private or public market.
Green Technology
The theme today, e-mobility, is a concept relevant to green technology which describes the use of technology and science to reduce human impacts on the natural environment. Green technology is crucial to addressing climate change.
Climate change is a global issue that requires global solutions. Therefore, we take an international view when considering the relevant trends. We have been seeing interesting opportunities to collaborate with economies and institutions in Southeast Asia for mutual benefits, noting their growing economic and development potential.
Coupled with having an international mind-set, the HKIC is also very pragmatic when charting the course for I&T investment and development. Incubating individual I&T concepts is just the beginning. We also have to connect our entrepreneurs and technology with clients and application opportunities around the world, which allows our investee companies to assess commercialisation prospects, and implement enhancements to their technology and business models based on actual feedback. This will help their business to grow over time, bringing benefits to Hong Kong as their home. This is what we meant by the HKIC ecosystem approach. This is also what the BCP-Spark partnership is about.
Thailand
So why does our E-mobility Ecosystem Partnership start with Thailand? Let me quote a few data points from which you will see the tremendous growth potential:
(i)
Thailand’s EV penetration rate in terms of new EV registered accelerated from c.1.4% in 2020 to c.14% in 2023. Currently the top 5 EV brands in terms of sales are BYD, Neta, MG, Tesla and Ora. In other words, Chinese brands took up 4 out of the first 5 places;
(ii)
the Thai government has announced sales ban target for internal combustion engine car starting in 2035, as well as EV subsidies; and
(iii)
EV charging infrastructure has plenty of room to grow. Currently, the EVs to charger ratio in Thailand is c.19x, compared with the commonly seen level in other parts of the world of c.10x.
The above presents interesting investment tailwinds for the HKIC from the regional and green technology perspectives, on the basis of which the BCP-Spark partnership was incubated.
BCP-Spark Partnership
Founded in 1984, BCP is a listed, state-owned energy company with significant market share in Thailand. As far as EV is concerned, it is BCP’s priority goal to increase EV chargers in its stations from 15% in 2024 to 60% in 2030.
Spark is a joint venture bridging Hong Kong and Thailand in the EV infrastructure space. It is armed with the proven EV infrastructure technology which involves a complex network of energy management and vehicle communications, as well as an interplay of different elements including hardware, software, customer interface, big data and potentially carbon credit generation.
The BCP-Spark partnership aims to translate the green vision into reality by enhancing the EV infrastructure in Thailand, making it more reliable, efficient, accessible and user-friendly. It is also an important milestone for Hong Kong and our entrepreneurs, as it represents the overseas demand and validation for our home-grown technology and talents, which are best-in-class.
In addition, the HKIC’s role in this partnership is a good example of our approach. We support and identify good investment opportunities from innovation to adoption. For those in the HKIC’s ecosystem, we connect them with resources such as capital, clientele and application opportunities, both locally and globally. As we continue to grow our portfolio, we look forward to enabling more synergy among our investee companies. Taking the BCP-Spark partnership as an example, as EV infrastructure technology evolves, the amount and types of data generated will increase. Subject to proper privacy protection, how we could better use the data to further facilitate green transition and green finance would be a good topic to work on.
Closing
To close, I believe that today is just the beginning of our E-mobility Ecosystem Partnership which is going to be further expanded in the future. Starting between Hong Kong and Thailand, and on the basis of the example set by the BCP-Spark project, we look forward to other collaborations in Southeast Asia and internationally.
Thank you!