Social Enterprise Summit 2024 Collaborate and Innovate to Respond to Complex Social Issues and Shaping Hong Kong’s Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

HONG KONG SAR –
Media OutReach Newswire – 25 November 2024 – The Social Enterprise Summit (SES 2024) officially opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. With the theme of “Connecting Global Experience, Strengthening Local Partnerships”, it emphasised the importance of synergy through collective intelligence, leveraging global insights and expertise to cultivate local partnerships, and foster innovative and transformative solutions to build a thriving and sustainable society that ensures the wellbeing of future generations. The three-day International Symposium invited over 60 experts, scholars, and business representatives from around the world to delve into how collaborative innovation can address complex social issues and explore how social enterprises can create an ecosystem conducive to the development of social innovation in Hong Kong through the concerted efforts of stakeholders from civil, business, government, and academic sectors.

(From left to right) Mr. Francis Ngai and Ms. Ada Wong, JP, Deputy Chairs of the Organizing Committee of the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Summit; Mr. Alan Cheung, MH, Member of the Organizing Committee; Ms. Rebecca Choy Yung and Dr. CA Tse, Co-chairs of the Committee; Mr. Clarence Leung, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs; Ms. Dorothy Lam; and Mr. Timothy Ma, MH, JP, Deputy Chair of the Committee, attended the SES 2024 Opening Session.

The three-day International Symposium focused on two main topics: “Collaborate and Innovate to Respond to Complex Social Issues” and “Shaping Hong Kong’s Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.” It also featured networking sessions and special activities. This year, for the first time, the event received support from the HKEX Foundation to host “SES Change for Impact 2024” at the HKEX Connect Hall, inviting representatives from social enterprises, private sectors, and various foundations to give keynote speeches, connecting social entrepreneurs with potential partners.

Ms Rebecca Choy Yung & Dr CA Tse, Co-chairs of the Organizing Committee of the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Summit, stated during the opening ceremony, “Social entrepreneurship has been developing in Hong Kong for over twenty years. Amid the growing social entrepreneurship movement, we aim to create an environment conducive to social innovation development. Thus, we chose Connecting Global Experience, Strengthening Local Partnerships’ as this year’s theme, utilizing global insights and expertise to foster local partnerships and cultivate innovative and transformative solutions for a thriving and sustainable society that ensures the well-being of future generations”.

Mr Clarence LEUNG, Under Secretary, Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Social Enterprise Summit has served as a platform for cross-sector collaboration and communication for over a decade. Through three key initiatives—international symposiums, community programs, and social innovation knowledge—it has brought together diverse forces to promote the development of social enterprises. The SAR government will continue to adopt a multi-faceted approach to support the sustainable development of social enterprises, organizing promotional activities to encourage various sectors and the public to support social enterprises, and fostering cross-sector collaboration to inject new momentum into the sector and actively assist young people in participating in social innovation, thereby creating more social benefits.

Following the Grand Opening, a “Dialogue+” session featured Mr Ho Kai-ming, Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare, as the keynote speaker, who shared how social enterprises can “identify pain points” by using user needs as a guiding principle, enabling them to utilize new technologies and methods to deliver the products and services needed by society, thereby achieving greater social impact more effectively. This session also included pioneers from various sectors discussing innovative methods to build communities and respond to social issues. Notable speakers included Ms KWOK Ling Lai Lillian, HKSAR Legislative Council Member, Mr Samuel KWONG, Senior Associate Director – ESG of ChinaChem Group, Ms Maryam RANI, Project Executive, Wedo Global, Mr Kelvin SO, Founder, Re:learn, and Principal Ranny YAU Chun Yin, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Kap Yan Directors’ College.

In the afternoon, Mr Nelson YIP, Founding CEO and Director, EP Venture Co. Limited, shared his journey from being a Paralympic equestrian athlete to founding “Hong Kong Rehabilitation Power” and the ” Unleash Foundation” dedicated to creating an accessible life for persons with disabilities and overcoming physical barriers. The “Keynote Speech” segment featured Dr Francois Bonnici, Director, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship; Head of Foundations, World Economic Forum, along with Mr Chavalit Frederick TSAO, Chairman, TPC (Tsao Pao Chee), Singapore; Chairman, Association for Wellbeing Economy. They discussed “How Social Entrepreneurship Brings About a Better World with Less Poverty, More Equity, Enhanced Wellbeing and Sense of Hope for All” sharing how to manifest social entrepreneurial spirit from global to regional levels to establish a fairer and more hopeful society. The subsequent “Thematic Discussion” continued this theme, featuring discussions on ” The Power of Business in Facilitating Social Entrepreneurship” with Mr Chavalit Frederick TSAO, Chairman, TPC (Tsao Pao Chee), Singapore; Chairman, Association for Wellbeing Economy, Mr Leong CHEUNG, Chief Strategy Officer, Exchange Fund Investment Office, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Ms Adedoyin OMIDIRAN, Initiatives Lead, Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, World Economic Forum.

Day 2 of the International Symposium focused on two major themes: “Collaborate and Innovate to Respond to Complex Social Issues” and “Shaping Hong Kong’s Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem”. “Collaborate and Innovate to Respond to Complex Social Issues” featured experts from the Greater Bay Area, Singapore and Hong Kong, discussing topics such as “Collaborative Placemaking @ Greater Bay Area in Response to Community Needs”, “Personalised Social Prescribing for Combating Elderly Loneliness”, “Smart Ageing Innovation: Pulling Cross-sector Passion to Turn Silver to Gold”, and “AI and Social Change: Reflecting on the Role of AI to Do Good”. By combining international and local experiences, the goal was to propose sustainable, innovative solutions to the social challenges in Hong Kong, transforming them into opportunities that benefit community development, the elderly population and society as a whole. Under the track of “Shaping Hong Kong’s Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem”, featured representatives from various social enterprises and public and private sectors, including the government, foundations and businesses to discuss topics such as “Social Entrepreneurship 101”, “Changemakers’ Wellbeing and Their Journey”, “Spectrum of Social Entrepreneurship” and “The Trend of Impact-Financing in Social Enterprises”, analysing how to promote the development of social entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. The afternoon session, “Fireside Chat: Community Engagement Experience”, summarised the Social Enterprise Summit’s past activities in different districts and published SES’s own “Theory of Change”, illustrating how SES creates impact going beyond the conference hall, and providing a platform for community representatives to exchange experiences.

“SES Change for Impact 2024” on Day 3 invited representatives from private sector and various foundations to deliver speeches and share case studies from social enterprises, discussing how to integrate corporate philanthropy into business strategies and its impact on sustainable development.

Hashtag: #SES2024

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