Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po speaks during the press conference for the second phase of the consumption voucher scheme at the Central Government Office on May 29, 2023. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The new-term Hong Kong Special Administration Region government has made big strides in improving the ecosystem of innovation and technology, growing a pool of talent and promoting the development of the digital economy since it took office in July 2022, driving the city ahead on the path of innovation and technology, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in his official blog on Sunday.
Since the establishment of the Innovation and Technology Bureau (the current Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau) in 2015, Hong Kong has invested nearly HK$200 billion ($25.6 billion) to support the development of innovation and technology.
The Cyberport, Hong Kong’s innovative digital community for nurturing technology enterprises, boasts more than 480 intellectual property projects and has attracted over 1,900 startups and companies, with the cumulative total of financing reaching HK$35.7 billion
A total of 320 enterprises have set up their offices at the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks over the past year, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, and 20 percent of them came from the Chinese mainland or overseas.
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The Cyberport, Hong Kong’s innovative digital community for nurturing technology enterprises, boasts more than 480 intellectual property projects and has attracted over 1,900 startups and companies, with the cumulative total of financing reaching HK$35.7 billion.
In the Policy Address officially published in October last year, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu proposed measures to compete for talents and enterprises.
Also, in the 2023-24 budget released earlier this year, the financial chief said Hong Kong should eye the three major directions of high-quality development, and make good use of its strengths and the distinctive advantages under the “one country, two systems” principle to open up new arenas for the SAR’s economic growth.
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“To promote the upgrading, transformation and diversified development of industries through innovation and technology is the gateway for Hong Kong to step into a new phase of high-quality development,” said Chan.
He earmarked HK$50 million in the budget for the Cyberport to step up the development of Web 3.0 based on block chain technology, under which over 150 enterprises have cooperated with the Cyberport over the past year.
“We have the spirit of pursuing changes with innovations, and with right policies and technical support, the city is definitely capable of achieving Industry 4.0,” the financial head said in confidence.
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The Legislative Council has recently approved the HK$10 billion Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme formulated to strengthen the support for innovation and technology development as well as new industrialization, and the government will inject funds into the Innovation and Technology Fund in phases to facilitate the implementation of the scheme, Chan revealed.
He added that the government has made great efforts to compete for companies with cutting-edge and research-capable technologies to further accelerate the growth of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology ecosystem.
The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, in the six months since its establishment, has met with more than 150 companies, some of which are locomotives in their respective industries and boast high-end technologies.
“The SAR government will continue to move forward in the four major directions set out in the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, and join hands with sister cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to build the area into a world-class innovation and technology hub,” said Chan.
