ABRAHAM LAM has been commuting between Yuen Long in Hong Kong and Shenzhen every workday for the past three years to work at a startup he established in Qianhai.
Lam’s company, Fusquare, provides a smart, comfortable and energy-efficient working environment for white-collars by adopting IoT technologies in office buildings.
Lam is one of the many young Hong Kong people who followed the footsteps of Wang Tao to pursue their innovation dreams in Shenzhen.
Wang, a graduate student from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), set up DJI in Shenzhen more than 10 years ago.
Now, an increasing number of young Hong Kong engineers with knowledge of international commercial rules are starting their own businesses in Qian.
According to a report released by Hong Kong X Foundation, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will face high demand for top-notch entrepreneurs and engineers in the Internet and telecommunications fields.
Lam developed his startup at an incubator in Hong Kong for a couple of years. When his lease contract ended, Lam decided to relocate his firm to the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub due to the encouraging environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Lam said that most young Hong Kongers want to work at financial or law firms. There are fewer people involved in scientific research and development in Hong Kong.
According to a research institute under the Peking University HSBC Business School, Shenzhen is transforming into a city of innovation, as it sees an average of 46 new patents generated every day and one in every 63 residents owns a high-technology enterprise.
Some other statistics showed that although Shenzhen has a good environment for developing innovation, the city still lacks top-notch research institutions and universities. Hong Kong, on the other hand, possesses great institutions and universities, and thus can provide Shenzhen with talents like Lam.
With three years of development, Lam’s team has kept growing from a technology team that only included Hong Kong youths to a more multicultural group with the participation of more mainland graduates.
Hong Kong’s commercial background has cultivated its residents to think commercially. Lam teaches his team to follow strict working protocols during their innovative development.
Li Zexiang, an investor in DJI and a professor at HKUST, said the Greater Bay Area is in need of a large number of engineers for development.