Invest Hong Kong has opened its Global Fast Track business matching and pitching portal to the territory's central bank (HKMA) in a bid to boost the monetary authority's CBDC research.
The CBDC track invites banks, fintechs and tech firms to submit innovative ideas for development in eight focus areas, including retail CBDC (rCBDC) adoption, wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) adoption, programmable money, interoperability, privacy, cybersecurity, foreign exchange and liquidity management, and offline payments.
Shortlisted applicants will then enter a pitching session and compete for three awards covering business use case, technology and ecosystem approach. All qualified candidates will also be given the opportunities to work with the HKMA on research projects and pilots.
The move follows the publication in April of a HKMA discussion paper on the policy and design aspects of a potential e-HKD.
HKMA chief fintech officer Nelson Chow. "As Hong Kong's central banking institution, we endeavour to future-proof Hong Kong in terms of CBDC readiness on both wholesale and retail fronts as part of our 'Fintech 2025' strategy. We are confident that this new CBDC track will yield fruitful outcomes and bring valuable insights, adding to the wealth of knowledge on CBDC and contributing to an enhanced CBDC ecosystem."
Application for the CBDC track is now open until mid-September.