And for another, we need to factor in various considerations to keep up with the latest international standards, including measures to uphold and protect data privacy. Therefore, enhancing our financial data infrastructure must be a concerted effort by the banking and tech industry as a whole. A team effort will ultimately lead to public goods that deliver value, benefit all the parties, and at the same time are commercially viable. 30. By improving our data infrastructure, we are empowering the industry and encouraging creativity for developing innovative financial products and solutions, in turn building up the overall appetite for fintech solutions. Expanding the fintech-savvy workforce 31. The three strategies I just mentioned will, hopefully, generate demand in the industry for fintech solutions. However, from what we learnt from the industry, the supply of fintech talent remains a pressing issue. Therefore, our fourth strategy is that we want to foster a fintechsavvy workforce and nurture all-round fintech talent, including students and practitioners. 32. We don’t need reminding of how Hong Kong boasts an extremely strong talent pool – be it in law, finance, accountancy, or other professions. We are a city that thrives on our people’s high agility and efficiency. We pride ourselves on keeping up with international standards as well as customer and market requirements. 33. With fintech being a relatively new area, it is understandable that we currently face an acute fintech talent shortage. Hong Kong is in need of grooming all-round fintech talent and expertise.
Now, we must recognise and accept the fact that COVID-19 has permanently changed customers’ behaviour. Their digital appetite will outlast the pandemic. The only way to satisfy their increasing digital appetite is to increase our fintech offerings, which in turn, will make them hungrier for more. 1/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  11. The HKMA believes now is the right time for the banking industry to double down on fintech development. It is time to work together as a whole to embrace the numerous untapped possibilities that fintech can bring. Fintech has the potential to become a major economic growth engine in the post-pandemic era; and it would be in the banking industry’s best interests to be a part of this progression. 12. With this in mind, we have talked to a lot of stakeholders in the past few months to map out what needs to be done to take Fintech development to a higher level. Our conclusion is that we must build an ecosystem where the value of fintech is experienced across all levels and by all groups of people. When we bring sufficient benefits to customers, investors, and the public at large, we will create a virtuous cycle that generates even more demand for fintech solutions, in turn energising the whole industry. 13. As we build this ecosystem, we also need to ensure that we maintain the right factors for the ecosystem to grow further. Data, infrastructure, talent, and funding will all be vital to this growth.