The co-founders of the BEYOND International Science and Technology Innovation Expo stated in an interview that they hope the event can become a local annual fixture and become “one of the biggest and the most impactful events in promoting cross-industry and cross-border cooperation in Asia”.

The event was co-founded by the head of Chinese tech media company TechNode, Lu Gang, and local venture capitalist Jason Ho Kin Tung, with a recorded joint interview, previously published on the expo’s website.

Initially scheduled for the first half of this year BEYOND was later postponed to August 26 and 28 at The Venetian convention centre, with organisers previously expecting more than 1,000 Fortune 500 exhibitors and more than 20,000 attendees spread over a 50,000 square meters space.

‘This is the inaugural event for BEYOND. We hope that thereafter there will be a big global tech scene in Macau every year. We believe that Asia is an emerging market for companies to explore and expand into in the coming years. As such, our goal is to make the BEYOND Expo one of the biggest and the most impactful events in promoting cross-industry and cross-border cooperation in Asia,’ Ho noted in the interview conducted by the event’s organisation.

During the interview, Lu states that the event aims to explore the “future of business” and “focus on technology and its impact on various industries” while aiming to become “one of the most influential technology platforms” among emerging market and especially in the APAC region.

According to the interview, Lu and Ho met during the 2019 London Tech Week, when they were both guest speakers for a roundtable conference in London, with Lu then inviting Ho to be a guest speaker in some TechNode events.

‘During gatherings, one question would frequently come up as a discussion point: why is it that Asia has so many tech innovations and possesses such a huge market potential, yet there has never been a platform like CES, MWC, and IFA, that can bring the global tech innovation industry together?,’ Ho stated in the interview.

The organisers had previously indicated the expo intended to rival Las Vegas’ annual Consumer Technology Association (CES) trade show and help set Macau as a “global tech hub”.

‘So one day, I said to Lu Gang on WeChat: “Let’s build a new platform in Macau and call it “Beyond”, which means ‘to transcend’,” and that was the very beginning of ‘BEYOND’.

Lu also added that the event will attempt to look ‘beyond’ the commercial value tech can bring to our society, and focus on the contributions it can bring in terms of achieving a sustainable future and solving global challenges.

‘Especially during COVID-19, science and technology has been put into great use to save lives. As for BEYOND Boundaries, we think there shouldn’t be any geographical boundaries in technology. Instead, there should be open conversations among global tech communities to recognize the importance and value of global collaboration,’ Lu noted.

Tech giants Alibaba, ByteDance, CP Group, Foxconn, BMW, Huawei, Mi, ZTE, AliCloud, and SenseTime.t are some of the groups expected to be represented in the event, which will have a large focus on social and environmental technology, life sciences, advanced technology, 5G network infrastructure, smart cities, transportation-related technology and government-oriented electronics.

Some of its expected speakers include Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou, China’s top respiratory diseases expert, Zhong Nanshan, and former NBA superstar, Yao Ming.

BEYOND is owned and produced by the Macao Technology General Association, and co-organized by the Trade Development Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and the China Centre For International Science And Technology Exchange.

The event will be divided into three main components BEYOND Business, BEYOND Technology and BEYOND Boundaries, with some information already revealed concerning the BEYOND Global Investment Summit and BEYOND Virtual segments.

BEYOND Global Investment Summit will cover investment trends in the next decade, investment in sustainable tech, change, and adaptation to the post-covid era, with speakers such as Christine Tsai, CEO and Founding Partner of 500 Startups, and James Mi, Founding Partner of venture capital firm, Lightspeed China Partners.

BEYOND Virtual will also present more than 10 online sessions with over 40 speakers for the three days, on topics such as special-purpose acquisition companies, non-fungible tokens, esports, and the future of retail.

A tour connecting China’s top tech companies from the Greater Bay Area with international visitors is also scheduled for August 23 to 25, starting from Hong Kong, and continuing to Shenzhen and Guangzhou to visit tech companies such as Huawei, BYD, Tencent before arriving in Macau on August 25.