行政總裁出席香港科技大學馮諾依曼研究院揭牌儀式致辭 (英文) (2025年5月9日)
Financial Secretary, Consul-General of Hungary, Professor Shum, Professor Ip, Professor Guo, Professor Jia, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning. It is my great pleasure to join you all today for the inauguration ceremony of Von Neumann Institute (“VNI”) of the HKUST. My warmest congratulations to the HKUST and Professor Jia, as the Director of the VNI, on this achievement.
The HKIC's Story with and Expectation on the VNI
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) has become the backbone technology for future creation, innovation and empowerment. It is all around us, and will be even more so in the future, bringing transformation to and being an integral part of our economy and society. AI is an area that the HKIC is very focused on, because it is not only an investable sector with great market potential, but also a tool that could accelerate the nurturing of New Quality Productive Forces and support the transformation of other existing industries. In gist, AI could be an important game changer for all walks of life.
The establishment of VNI is very timely and meaningful in the sense that it is going to provide great input and impetus for Hong Kong’s AI journey. I like the way they stated their objectives - multi-dimensional but pragmatic and focused, namely to establish the infrastructure necessary for large-scale AI research, including computational resources and collaborative platforms; foster partnerships with industry, government, and other academic institutions to enhance research capabilities and impact; and support education and training programs for undergraduate and postgraduate students, preparing them for leadership in AI research and industry. All these resonate with what the HKIC is supporting.
While the inauguration ceremony for the VNI is today, the HKIC’s story with the VNI dated back to last year. The seed was planted in the strategic agreement signed between the HKIC and SmartMore, in which SmartMore and Professor Jia as the founder, committed to establishing the AI institute in Hong Kong with a reputable university. And here we go today.
In addition to having played a part in the incubation and implementation of this VNI initiative, the HKIC looks forward to the continued development of the VNI particularly in 3 key aspects, which I will summarise as the “3 Links”, namely the link between “today and tomorrow”, “talents and application” and “Hong Kong and global”.
Today to Tomorrow
Similar to what the HKIC is doing, though in different forms, the VNI is investing today for tomorrow with a focus on AI. For the HKIC, as guided by our dual mandate, which is to seek reasonable financial return, and at the same time to enhance the long-term competitiveness and economic vitality of Hong Kong, we have invested in over 100 projects to date. Many of these projects are in the AI or AI-enabled industries, ranging from platforms or infrastructures such as large language models and chips design, to applications including embodied AI and AI drug discovery, to name but a few.
Such efforts won’t be possible if we don’t have good projects and partners to invest in and with. On this front, we look forward to joining hands with the VNI – where the HKUST/VNI could play a part in enabling and accelerating “zero” to “one” in AI research and development, and the HKIC could contribute by taking “one” to “infinity” in business development, similar to what we have been doing for our investee companies and partners.
Talents to Application
Talents are key to AI development. Professor Shum, Professor Ip and Professor Jia, to name but a few, are reputable names that demonstrate the requisite credentials. They are distinguished scholars in their own fields, and at the same time having the entrepreneur experience and execution capabilities to transform ideas into products and services for real life application. We need such mindset and skillset for application along our journey of AI development, and believe that the VNI is well positioned to pass on these mindset and skillset from generations to generations.
Hong Kong to Global
Innovation and technology are borderless, so AI is meant to be a global game. Openness to recognise and embrace the best wisdom, regardless of geographies, politics and other externalities, is the secret sauce for future excellence. Just look at what DeepSeek and RISC-V have achieved in terms of disrupting the deep-rooted belief in the industry and market, and most importantly bringing tremendous benefits to users around the world. By adopting a collaborative and ecosystem approach, the VNI would be a good platform to curate and cultivate AI innovation.
With the aforesaid key element of openness in Hong Kong and Mainland China for AI development, the HKIC sees great potential of investment opportunities and talent development in this part of the world. This observation is in fact shared by our business counterparts and peer investors such as sovereign wealth funds, pension plans and university endowments from around the world. We are going to host an event named “International Forum of Patient Capital” in two weeks’ time on 22 May, in which we will announce more details on these investment opportunities and progress, and how the HKIC, as Patient Capital equipped with the full support of the Government and the channelling force of capital, could benefit AI development.
Closing
To close, thank you again for having me today. I look forward to the growing and continued success of the VNI in many years to come, and to joining hands with the VNI, the HKUST and other stakeholders to contribute to the AI journey in Hong Kong and for Hong Kong.