How can technological innovation drive the Greater Bay Area?

On October 27, themed on ‘High-quality Coordinated Development of the Bay Area Economy Led by Technological Innovation’, the 2021 International Forum of the Bay Area Economic Development was held online at Guangdong University of Finance & Economics (GDUFE). More than 100 thousand participants attended this cloud forum, including domestic and foreign experts from well-known universities and research institutes, as well as representatives from enterprises and public institutions.

As a high-end platform for brainstorming and international cooperation, the forum aims to discuss the future development path of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), that is, how to build a comprehensive high-quality development pattern through technological innovation and institutional innovation, and ultimately realize the goal of building a world-class bay area and city cluster.

At the forum, experts delved into such topic as the new pattern of the world economy, industrial reforms, the strategies and motivations of innovation-driven and high-quality development, how institutional innovation can drive technological innovation, and the gathering of talents in GBA.

Martin Jacques, a celebrated British scholar and senior researcher at the University of Cambridge;

Xu Heping, Chairman of National Science and Technology Society for the Revitalization of City Economy;

Annie Koh, Vice President of Singapore Management University and National Lifetime Honorary Professor;

Lin Jiang, Director of Society of Public Finance of China;

and Irene, the Head of Far East Affairs and Chairman of the Alumni Association of Cambridge University gave their keynote speeches on different topics.

The following two round-table conversations, under the theme of ‘High-quality Industrial Development Under the New Technological Revolution’ and ‘Bay Area Talent and Technological Innovation Development’ respectively, talked about the development of tech-led finance, pharmaceutical industry, digital economy and industrial policies, offering suggestions for the development of industries under the new technological revolution, and at the same time focused on how to build a talent pool in the GBA.

Our world today is seeing profound changes in the international landscape, the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a tortuous recovery of the world economy. Economic development is thus facing severe challenges as well as important changes and adjustments.

Looking at the world at large, we’re facing a period of major change that’s rarely seen in a century. Against such a background, the forum serves as a platform for communication, mutual learning and cooperation. It aims to form a powerful synergy and make significant contributions to the construction of the GBA by sharing fruitful results and practices of innovation-driven development, so as to build a new development pattern and achieve high-quality coordinated development.