HKTV and VTC ink deal to nurture local live commerce talents

Hong Kong Technology Venture (HKTV) and the Vocational Training Council (VTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to nurture local eCommerce and live commerce talents. This is HKTV’s first MoU with a local tertiary education institution to help Hong Kong ride the wave of digital transformation and eCommerce and establish a sustainable talent supply for the industry.

The partnership comes as live commerce has become a widely popular sales model in Hong Kong and mainland China in recent years, while live commerce sales activities incorporate a variety of skills such as marketing management, digital technology, finance and smart logistics, practitioners need multi-disciplinary know-how to leverage development opportunities.

Under the partnership, HKTV and VTC will collaborate on live commerce talent training programmes, in which the livestreaming expert practitioners from HKTV’s 24-hour eCommerce platform HKTVmall, will provide workshops and seminars for students of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)’s higher diploma programmes in a business discipline.

The training activities will also be integrated into the discipline common module “design thinking and entrepreneurship” (設計思考與企業家精神) and cover topics including the Hong Kong eCommerce ecosystem and the live streaming production process on “HKTVLive” platform. 

Furthermore, VTC students from business discipline can participate in the production of the live commerce events on "HKTVLive” shopping channel through a project-based learning approach, spanning VTC's eCommerce platform, the HKVTC Shop, and showcasing a range of products designed and produced by VTC students and graduates. 

On the other hand, under VTC’s workplace learning and assessment (WLA) (職場學習及評核) framework, internship opportunities at HKTVmall and other merchants will be provided to students, offering hands-on experience in digital marketing executions and eCommerce operations. The collaboration will also cover workshops for VTC’s teaching staff in the business discipline to keep them abreast of the latest developments in live commerce.

Jelly Zhou, chief executive officer (Hong Kong), HKTV, said: “The group is committed to nurturing talents in eCommerce and technology, actively driving the digital development of the retail industry in Hong Kong. We are delighted to collaborate with VTC and aim to share online marketing techniques and past experiences while allowing students to directly participate in livestreaming production. This will enable them to grasp the essentials of eCommerce operations, unleash their potential, and lay a solid foundation for cultivating future e-commerce elites.”

VTC executive director Donald Tong said that while the latest policy address mentioned that the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau would establish a task force to implement policies assisting Hong Kong's SMEs in developing eCommerce business in the mainland, it was expected that more companies would allocate resources to develop their eCommerce businesses, leading to an increased demand for relevant talents.

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