RISE will take place as an in-person conference in AsiaWorld-Expo in March next year. Photo Credit: RISE
Hong Kong has claimed back host city rights for major tech conference, RISE, which has previously featured industry heavyweights from Alibaba, Amazon, Line Corporation, Grab and Google.
For the next five years (2022–2026), the RISE conference will be held in Hong Kong, which has been credited to the destination's pandemic controls and low infection rate.
"I am sure the staging of RISE will showcase Hong Kong’s capacity to deliver amid the challenges posed by the epidemic, and connect our tech startup ecosystem with that of the globe," said Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Edward Yau.
Launched in Hong Kong in 2015 by the same team behind Web Summit — another major tech conference — RISE moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2020, likely due to Hong Kong's mass protests in 2019.
However, the plan has always been "to come back to Hong Kong at some stage," said Paddy Cosgrave, Co-founder and CEO of the RISE Conference and Web Summit.
"We’ve seen the region’s tech and startup economy grow from strength to strength. The event has now become an important nexus that connects the East and the rest of the world. CEOs and investors from around the world want a window into the region, and vice versa.”
HKTB Chairman Dr YK Pang added: "With the strong commitment to hygiene and safety across all community sectors, the city is gearing up for a new milestone, and HKTB will continue to make its best efforts to maintain Hong Kong’s status as 'the world’s meeting place'.”
The in-person meet will happen from 14-17 March at the AsiaWorld-Expo, and is expected to gather thousands of attendees including founders, investors, multinationals and entrepreneurs.
According to the World Bank, Hong Kong ranks third in the world for ease of doing business, witnessing a 28% rise of local startups to 3,360 between years 2018 to 2020.