Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced the addition of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) track to the Global Fast Track 2022 programme.

Global Fast Track, organised by InvestHK and co-organised by Finnovasia, is a one-stop programme with a business matching portal, pitching competition, and mentoring sessions to help global fintech companies explore potential business partnerships and investments.

The CBDC track invites banks, fintechs and tech firms to submit innovative solutions in eight focus areas, including retail CBDC (rCBDC) adoption, wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) adoption, programmable money, interoperability, privacy, cybersecurity, foreign exchange and liquidity management, and offline payments.

Shortlisted applicants will then enter a pitching session exclusive for the track and compete for three awards, namely the Best Use Case Award, Best Technology Award, and Best Ecosystem Award.

All qualified candidates may also have the opportunities to work with the HKMA on research projects and pilots to foster the future growth of the CBDC ecosystem.

In recent years, the HKMA has been actively exploring both wCBDC and rCBDC.

Applications for the CBDC track is now open until mid-September.

“As Hong Kong’s central banking institution, we endeavour to future-proof Hong Kong in terms of CBDC readiness on both wholesale and retail fronts as part of our ‘Fintech 2025’ strategy.

 

This year, we are thrilled to partner with InvestHK and introduce a new CBDC track to the Global Fast Track. We are confident that this new CBDC track will yield fruitful outcomes and bring valuable insights, adding to the wealth of knowledge on CBDC and contributing to an enhanced CBDC ecosystem,”

said Nelson Chow, Chief Fintech Officer of the HKMA.

“We are truly honoured and excited to be working with the HKMA to launch the CBDC track.

 

By connecting private sector leaders directly with the regulator, the track further enables Global Fast Track 2022 to provide comprehensive, one-stop support to innovators around the world, while strengthening Hong Kong’s status as a premier international fintech hub,”

said Charles Ng, Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK.