The HKUST “AgriAccess” team led by Owen CHUNG Ho Man, a Year 5 student of Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP), clinched third place at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Tech Policy Hackathon 2025 hosted at Google in Bangkok, competing against finalists from 14 leading universities across Southeast Asia. 

Teaming up with fellow HKUST students Kevin CHIN Chi-Lon, Andy YAU Ho-Lun, Ian CHAU Long-Hei, and Annie YIN Xinshu, “AgriAccess” presented an innovative solution to address Indonesia's US$25 billion credit gap for farmers. 

“This milestone is less about a single achievement and more about the shared conviction that fueled it: that by bridging technology and finance, we can make the invisible, investable. We are acutely aware that we could not have even begun to approach this challenge without a constellation of support,” said Owen.  

Their gratitude extends to their advisor Professor Betty LIN, T&M-DDP Associate Director, as well as the hackathon judges, mentors, and facilitators from diverse organizations, such as APRU, Google, Microsoft, NEC, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Data.Org, and others, along with an expert in Indonesian fiscal policy and machine learning economics. Their guidance and support played a pivotal role in shaping the team’s model.

Congratulations to Owen and the team on this remarkable achievement!

Learn more about APRU Tech Policy Hackathon 2025: https://www.apru.org/news/students-across-asia-tackle-digital-challenges-in-apru-x-google-tech-policy-hackathon/