With Web3.0 gradually become a new blue ocean in the global financial field, Hong Kong and Singapore in the competition to become the status of Asia’s financial center at the same time, are due to the unique financial attributes of Web3 as well as more than a trillion U.S. dollars in market value and into the field, which has become the focus of the competition between Hong Kong and Singapore battle.
As the same belongs to the “Four Little Dragons of Asia” countries, Singapore and Hong Kong in terms of area and population are comparable, are economically developed countries. Not only are they highly similar in terms of their rise to prominence, their development is also very similar: as a shopping paradise, a model of multiculturalism, and an important center for finance, trade and shipping, they are both known as the “Pearl of Asia”.
In recent years, although Web3 is still in its infancy, the competition between Hong Kong and Singapore has become more and more intense. Hong Kong and Singapore have organized a number of events on Web3.0 and enacted a number of policies to actively promote Web3.0.
Singapore has an early footprint in exploring Web 3.0. Back in 2021, the Singapore FinTech Festival was held with the theme of Web 3.0. its aim was to bring together global experts to discuss how Web 3.0 and key technologies will drive the future of financial services. In 2022 Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), noted at the Singapore Fintech Festival that Singapore aims to be a hub for digital assets, not just for cryptocurrency trading and speculation. Yu Jianing, executive director of the Metaverse Industry Committee of the National Mobile Communications Federation and honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Blockchain Association, believes that Singapore has some first-mover advantages in developing Web 3.0. The Singaporean government has been actively promoting the development of digital assets and blockchain technology by formulating regulatory policies, strengthening government-enterprise cooperation and international cooperation. Singapore’s advantages lie in its high degree of internationalization, good rule of law environment and relatively sound regulatory policies, thus attracting a large number of international financial and technology enterprises.
Hong Kong is also actively catching up. Hong Kong officially released the “Policy Declaration on the Development of Virtual Assets in Hong Kong” in 2022, announcing to investors and entrepreneurs around the world Hong Kong’s determination to develop into a global virtual asset center and Web3.0 hub. In the same year, Hong Kong FinTech Week added Web3 and meta-universe concepts as new elements, including the distribution of limited-edition proof-of-attendance tokens to attendees in the form of NFT. This year, Hong Kong Web3.0 was officially established and ushered in the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival and Digital Economy Summit. Yu said, on the one hand, Hong Kong is the pioneer of compliance regulation in the field of virtual assets in the Asia-Pacific region, and plays a huge and positive leadership role in the development of the Asian virtual asset market. On the other hand, Hong Kong, as a financial hub between Mainland China and the international community, is uniquely positioned and closely connected to the Mainland’s financial markets. Mainland China is also actively promoting the development of blockchain technology and digital economy, which complement well with Hong Kong’s Web 3.0 industry ecosystem. In the future, Hong Kong can take advantage of its geographical location to strengthen the connection with the capital market of the Mainland, promote capital flow and realize the two-way flow of capital and projects, and at the same time promote the in-depth integration of blockchain technology in practical application scenarios.
It is thus evident that Singapore and Hong Kong attach considerable importance to the Web 3.0 sector. Both places are international financial centers with strong financial and technological infrastructures, which have good conditions for promoting the development of Web3.0.
However, it is important to note the challenges that these two Asian financial centers are facing behind this battle for supremacy. Singapore’s government investment fund suffered significant losses in the cryptocurrency industry’s FTX “thunderstorm” last year, and there has been some contraction in policy. Hong Kong is because of the economic downturn in recent years, the advantages of the financial sector has gradually lost, especially talent, capital spillover is obvious, so the Hong Kong SAR Government would like to take advantage of the Web3 new financial opportunities to revitalize. He also said that both Hong Kong and Singapore see the opportunity for change brought about by Web3 featuring blockchain technology, and both are still figuring out the Web3 model, taking the lead to become one of the few experimental special zones that may win a head start in the future.
