Terry Wong Ping-sau, the CEO of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP), radiated nostalgia as he scrolled by way of a map on his telephone, specializing in the place he referred to as residence for three years whereas engaged on the Neom challenge, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s large smart-city growth.
“Look at this place,” he mentioned. “This is Aqaba. I lived right there, on the shores of the Red Sea, at a crossroads of nations – bordered by Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The geography alone was incredible.”
But for Wong, the true magic was not the beautiful sea views. It was the folks and the expertise of connecting numerous stakeholders into an ecosystem – not in contrast to his job at HKSTP, which he has held for three months.
“It was like a mini-United Nations,” he mentioned of the Neom challenge, which aimed to develop a sustainable metropolis powered 100 per cent by renewable power. “Over 100 brilliant minds from every sector you can imagine. You’d sit down for a meal in the canteen, and right next to you would be someone from Europe, an expert from the US or a specialist from Asia.”
This every day, international collaboration grew to become his biggest classroom. The three years he spent at Neom not solely formed his profession but additionally broadened his horizons. At HKSTP, Wong attracts on these experiences to map out the following part of the park’s growth.
“For over 20 years, the science park has established a very solid foundation, with our tech companies achieving outstanding performance across a number of areas,” he mentioned. “In the future, we hope to achieve even more remarkable results, thereby elevating our status in Asia and the world.”