Eddie Yue: Innovation in action - looking back to look forward

Opening keynote by Mr Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2022, Hong Kong, 31 October 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Introduction

1. Good morning, everyone. A very warm welcome to Hong Kong FinTech Week.
2. This is an exciting week for Hong Kong. For the first time in three years, we are welcoming many of our overseas friends to Hong Kong again for this Fintech Week and also the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit and Rugby Sevens after that.  This marks the beginning of our path back to normality, and all visitors can see and feel the vibrancy and dynamism of our city.    
3. Part of this dynamism comes from the fast-growing fintech ecosystem in Hong Kong. Innovative fintech firms are exploring ways to drive the momentum towards an even more tech-enabled financial industry.  Many are looking at how to make use of the fast-evolving blockchain protocols to create products or services through crypto, stablecoins, NFTs, DeFi and the metaverse.
4. Some financial institutions are already using elements of the metaverse for brand-building and customer education; and it will be fascinating to see whether and to what extent the metaverse can form a new landscape for real-world financial activities one day. I hope the opening you just saw illustrates how the metaverse can mirror – and even improve on – reality.  For example, my avatar definitely looks cooler, and is obviously a much better table tennis player than the real me.