Hong Kong and Singapore lead green fintech development among the five APEC economies

The study finds government support and talent development are crucial to drive the growth of green fintech

HONG KONG and SINGAPORE, 28 October 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, GoImpact, an ESG and sustainability education firm, is partnering with The The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School (“CUHK Business School”) released the findings of its working paper, Exploring the green Fintech ecosystem in Asia: Insights from Five Economies in APEC. This study finds that government support plays an important and essential role in facilitating green fintech development, while a lack of talent is a common concern in the five economies of the region.

Derived from three elements – environment, finance and technology – the industry report defines green fintech as financial activities that use green technologies that provide better environmental results.

Industry experts from five APEC economies, namely Hong Kong SAR, China (“Hong Kong“), IndonesiaRepublic of Korea (“Korea”), Singapore and Thailand, has urged politicians to establish an enabling environment for green fintech to flourish. According to them, governments can help by offering incentive schemes for startups to develop in this area and spearhead the change by setting sustainable regulatory frameworks and imposing disclosures, reporting and thresholds.

The study also suggests that financial institutions should embrace the sustainable agenda to achieve the triple bottom line: profit, people and the planet. Given today’s competitive banking environment and the global shortage of green talent, financial institutions should leverage their unique positions in the business ecosystem to develop more in-house sustainability talent to advance the sustainability agenda, the report further explains.

Key findings from the study include the following:

1. Green fintech startups i Asia has already delivered many different types of green fintech, such as green digital payment, green digital investment solutions, digital green analytics, green crowdfunding, green risk analysis, green digital lending, green digital asset solutions and green regtech.
2. ESG disclosure regulations play an important role in promoting the green fintech ecosystem. Supporting evidence comes from case examples in Hong Kong SAR which suggest green reporting startups grew at a faster pace since the ESG reporting requirement for all listed companies came into effect in 2020.
3. As the Green FinTech ecosystem develops, collaboration and partnerships will become more mainstream. There are already several successful collaborations in Asiaincluding Project Genesis in Hong Kong SAR, Climate Impact X and Project Greenprint in Singaporeand a carbon offset program by Gojek and Jejak.in in Indonesia.
4. Governments in Asia is aware of the importance of a green economy and has set roadmaps and initiatives to help the economy transition to a more sustainable economy: for example, the Republic of Korea’s Green New Deal and Thailand’s Sustainable financial measures.
5. Financial institutions have already provided several green fintech services, including biodiversity-controlled stock indices, tokenized carbon credit trading platforms, robotic platforms for ESG investments, green certificates and ESG credit rating systems.
6. Sustainability-related education is essential to building a mature green FinTech ecosystem. It will raise awareness, push demand for green finance, and cultivate the talent needed for green FinTech development in Asia.
7. The four-pronged approach required to build a well-functioning green FinTech ecosystem is: increase demand for green services; increase the supply of green services; mobilize resources; and strengthen the policy.

The study examined policies, markets and opportunities regarding fintech’s role in driving green finance in the five selected APEC economies through desk surveys, interviews, as well as focus group discussions involving green fintech startups, governments and quasi-governmental organizations, green fintech-related associations and financial institutions , and found that both parts Hong Kong and Singapore is in the stage of scaling up and accelerating to mature levels in terms of green fintech development compared to the last two years.

Prof. Kalok ChanWei Lun Professor of Finance at CUHK Business School, said, “It is our great pleasure to partner with GoImpact to explore the green Fintech ecosystem in Asia. This research paper provides a glimpse of trends and insights for the five Asian economies in terms of the health of the Green Fintech Ecosystem, government initiatives and supporting institutions. As one of the leading business schools in Asiawe will also continue to cultivate talent with a socially responsible mindset and equip them with the skills and knowledge to have a positive impact on the improvement of the Green Fintech industry.”

Mrs. Helen LiCEO and co-founder of GoImpactsaid, “The intersection of capital and technology is the sweet spot that drives the adaptation of sustainability. We are proud to partner with CUHK Business School on this study which aims to provide a better understanding of the diverse landscape of Asia and a more collaborative lens in working together on this timely agenda.”

Li will speak on adopting an active ESG approach for inclusive and green finance at Hong Kong Fintech Week in 2022 31 October 2022 to share more insights about the global fintech industry.

Download information

Exploring the Green Fintech Ecosystem in Asia Working Paper is available for download from: https://bit.ly/3SzGIjf

About GoImpact

Bridging the great divide between talk and action, accelerating the sustainable development agenda from intention to implementation – GoImpact means impact made simple and actionable.

GoImpact is an ecosystem designed to connect the dots and provide actionable opportunities built around 3 key pillars – GoLearn (education); GoNetwork (structured advocacy); GoInvest (deal flow platform for sustainable investments).

Through our integrated learning platform in collaboration with top-level educational institutions and accreditation channels, we seek to establish a common baseline for sustainability learning, made simple, for many.

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About CUHK Business School

CUHK Business School consists of two schools – Accounting and Hotel and Tourism Management – ​​and four departments – Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing. Established in Hong Kong in 1963, it was the first business school to offer BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programs in the region. Today, CUHK Business School offers 10 undergraduate programs and 20 graduate programs including MBA, EMBA, Master, MSc, MPhil, DBA and Ph.D. The school currently has over 4,600 students and students from over 20 countries/regions.

In the Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking 2022, the CUHK EMBA was ranked 24th in the world. In the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2022, the CUHK MBA was ranked 50. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (over 40,000) among universities/business schools in Hong Kong – Many of them are key company managers.

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SOURCE GoImpact