ASTRI celebrates 25 years of positioning Hong Kong on the global innovation map with inaugural Tech Applied Summit

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Under the theme “Leading Tech Forward,” the Summit attracted enthusiastic participation from over 40 global leaders in government, industry, academia, research, and investment sectors, who shared insights on trending tech developments in the global I&T ecosystem. Over 1,500 attendees, including technological experts, startups, business leaders, and I&T enthusiasts from Hong Kong and various countries and regions, engaged in discussions on cutting-edge tech developments, such as generative AI, low-altitude economy, and smart city solutions.

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, The Hon John Lee, congratulated ASTRI on its achievements in a pre-recorded video. “Twenty-five years ago, ASTRI began its journey with an important mission: to boost Hong Kong's global competitiveness through applied research. Today, it stands as a leading research and development powerhouse and a key contributor to Hong Kong's innovation and technology sector,” he said.

Professor Sun Dong, the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of HKSAR, echoed this sentiment. “Today, as we gather under the banner of I&T, we are reminded of the power of collaboration. In Hong Kong, the close partnership among government, industry, academia, research, and investment sectors forms the cornerstone of our strategy to unlock new opportunities and drive progress, extending far beyond our borders,” Sun noted. “The potential for Hong Kong-Mainland collaboration is immense. ASTRI has played a pivotal role in fostering this collaboration. With the opening of its office in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone last year, ASTRI has been instrumental in transforming ideas into impactful solutions that benefit businesses, society, and the economy.”

In his welcoming speech, Ir Sunny Lee, Chairman of ASTRI’s Board, underscored the institute’s important role in driving the commercialisation of cutting-edge research projects and forging cross-regional collaborations between academia, enterprises, scientists, innovators, and other tech organisations. “For 25 years, ASTRI has been at the heart of Hong Kong’s I&T development. From our humble beginnings in 2000, we’ve grown into Hong Kong’s largest government-funded research institute, delivering impactful innovations and driving the city’s technology agenda.”

ASTRI has transferred more than 1,500 technologies to industry partners and secured over 1,100 patents worldwide, Ir Sunny Lee continued. “But these numbers only tell part of the story. The true impact of ASTRI lies in how these innovations have transformed businesses, empowered industries, and improved the lives of people in Hong Kong and beyond. For instance, ASTRI has played a pivotal role in advancing financial technologies, enabling Hong Kong to maintain its leadership as an international financial centre. We’ve also contributed significantly to smart city development, from developing advanced semiconductors to adopting the Internet of Things, from enabling next-generation communications to fostering smart transportation solutions. These achievements reflect our commitment to bridging the gap between research and application, delivering tangible benefits to society.”

Meanwhile, the proposed merger of ASTRI and the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) announced earlier by the HKSAR Government, is set to pave the way for synergistic collaborations between the two R&D institutes. This merger aims to deliver more comprehensive end-to-end solutions, benefitting a wider range of industry users.

Professor Sun noted that combining two strong public R&D centres with complementary advantages and shared values enhances their capability and capacity for high value-added applied R&D work. “We are eager to unleash the integrated power of the new entity and jointly accelerate the development of new quality productive forces,” he said.