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In Web3 push, Hong Kong to spend US$6.4 million boosting industry with plans for virtual asset task force
- The fresh funding this year will go towards activities including organising workshops and international seminars, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said
- Hong Kong has ramped up efforts to bolster the digital economy, including new virtual asset regulations and support for artificial intelligence
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The Hong Kong government is allocating HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) this year to boost the development of the Web3 industry while it is “in its start-up period”, in addition to setting up a virtual asset task force led by the city’s financial chief.
The money will go towards activities that include organising major international seminars and “workshops for young people” to aid the development of the Web3 ecosystem, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed on Wednesday during his 2023-24 budget speech.
The funding will go through the government-run business park Cyberport, which set up the Web3Hub@Cyberport accelerator this year, the company said on the programme’s official WeChat account. The accelerator, co-founded by Legislative Council member Johnny Ng Kit-chong, told the Post last year that it aims to attract 1,000 Web3 start-ups to Hong Kong in the next three years.
“Every generation of technological reform brings about new applications and fresh opportunities, and even disrupts the mode of business operation,” Chan said in his speech. “The third-generation internet (Web3), currently in its start-up period, has the same huge potential.”
Web3 is a loosely defined term that refers to a next-generation World Wide Web built on decentralised technologies such as blockchain. The most widely used Web3 applications to date have been cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which the Hong Kong government has started to embrace while introducing more robust crypto regulations in a bid to become a virtual asset hub.
Chan said that he will establish and lead a task force on the development of virtual assets, which will field recommendations on industry development from members of relevant government bodies, regulators and market participants.
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