Innovators in the New Economic Era

A few months ago, I attended the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Summer Davos Annual Meeting of the New Champions. As the pace of industry transformation accelerates, my conviction is stronger than ever: only by continuously innovating and collaborating can Hong Kong emerge as a true global smart city powerhouse. With this reflection, I’m excited to share how Varadise is ramping up our momentum for the next stage.

This year’s Davos theme, “Entrepreneurship in the New Era,” couldn’t be more relevant. Today, governments and companies face a trio of defining challenges: geopolitical volatility, rising trade friction, and intensifying climate change. Across the forum, respected leaders—including Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and China’s Premier Li Qiang—affirmed that accelerating economic growth and elevating quality of life depends on deeper public-private partnership and visionary investment in technology. Time and again, the core message was clear: digital transformation and sustainability remain the keys to the next wave of growth.

Setting Industry Standards and Accelerating Technology Adoption

As an active member of the WEF Urban Transformation Centre and Global Innovators, Varadise is laser-focused on global engagement. I’ve teamed up with leading voices from Saudi Arabia, the US, Europe, and Asia to tackle the frontier issues shaping our era: AI, digital twins, sustainability, and smart cities. Proudly rooted in Hong Kong, we are not just implementing best practices and building new models—we’re actively setting the pace for Asia’s smart city standards, putting local innovation in the international spotlight.

At the forum, I joined Basmah AlBuhairan, Director General of Saudi Arabia’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, to share with a global audience how technology is redefining management systems, supercharging productivity, and advancing the built environment. These exchanges confirmed what we are working for at Varadise: success in technology deployment demands local adaptability, and Hong Kong’s unique mix of international standards, homegrown talent, and operational rigor is propelling our innovation across borders.

Fueling Growth: Our Four Strategic Pillars

At Varadise, innovation isn’t just a slogan—it’s in our DNA, propelled by talent, vision, and cross-sector alliances. As a high-growth tech company, I drive our team to invest over HKD 30 million annually in four key engines:

• Talent Development: We actively nurture the next generation of digital engineering talent, help build an outstanding local pool of professionals, and export Hong Kong’s management expertise and AI technology to global markets.
• Industry Research: By collaborating with consultants, professional bodies, and universities, we explore best practices in engineering management and help drive the standardization and digitalization of management systems—continually optimizing the industry ecosystem.
• Innovative Technology: We focus on frontier technologies—including GenAI and digital twins—to drive new levels of productivity and embed smart engineering deeply into construction and city management.
• Partnership Co-Creation: We work hand-in-hand with industry peers, research institutes, and universities to jointly develop and commercialize innovative solutions, helping accelerate transformation and achieving genuine collaboration across the sector.

What’s Next: Fast-Tracking Global Standards with Technology

AI and digitalization are propelling our engineering sector into a whole new era and, with sustained investment and a dynamic, tightly connected ecosystem, I firmly believe Hong Kong can do more than increase efficiency—we can define the new global standard for smart city excellence.

That’s why Varadise will push relentlessly to link Hong Kong’s local know-how and Greater Bay Area experience with the next wave of global innovation. Our mission is to bring international standards to life, upskill more talent, and turn Hong Kong’s smart city playbook into the world’s new blueprint for digital and resilient cities.