Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), on Thursday said Hong Kong is at the forefront of financial technology in creating standards, establishing markets, and piloting advanced financial applications.

Speaking at the Greenwich Economic Forum in Hong Kong, Yue said that the city started to develop fintech as early as eight years ago, and has since been participating in international forums discussing central bank digital currencies.

In the past five years, overall deposits in Hong Kong have risen by 21 percent, with an increase of over 3 percent so far this year, data from HKMA showed

His remarks followed the latest breakthrough in a cross-border collaboration between the central banks of the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

READ MORE: Fintech key to transforming HK’s financial services industry

On Wednesday, Project mBridge entered the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage to pave the way ahead for more use cases, with Saudi Arabia’s central bank becoming a full participant in the project.

Yue also expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s stability and the resilience of its financial and banking systems, despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the US banking crisis in recent years.

READ MORE: HK launches green map to showcase fintech developments

In the past five years, overall deposits in Hong Kong have risen by 21 percent, with an increase of over 3 percent so far this year, data from HKMA showed. The asset management industry saw a 27 percent growth from 2019 to 2022.