A thriving and mutually-reinforcing financial and innovation and technology ecosystem is serving as a key engine for Hong Kong's future economic acceleration and high-quality development, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in his Sunday blog.

He added that this was also crucial for wholly participating and making positive contributions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s development.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region must leverage its role as an international two-way platform to make a positive contribution to the development and construction of the Greater Bay Area, supporting the greater release of the advantages of market integration within the city-cluster area. This will make Hong Kong's future development more substantial, diverse, and promising, the finance chief said.

ALSO READ: HK market seen poised to grow stronger with better investment prospects

The I&T ecosystem of the SAR has seen significant development. Chan said that the number of startups in Hong Kong has increased 40 percent to approximately 4,700 in the past five years, as the city provides solid financial support for their development at different stages, from angel investment to subsequent rounds of funding and initial public offerings.

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Cyberport — two of the SAR's flagship I&T infrastructures — raised a total of approximately HK$6 billion ($769 million) in funding for their startups in the past year. Furthermore, several companies based in Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Cyberport have successfully been listed in the past year, raising a total of HK$5.2 billion, Chan added.

Over the past week, Hong Kong hosted a series of large-scale summits, events, and innovation competitions, bringing together leaders from the international finance, investment, and innovation technology sectors, as well as representatives from multinational corporations.

This year, Hong Kong FinTech Week merged with StartmeupHK to stage the Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival 2025 for the first time, bringing significant synergistic effect. The two events together attracted 45,000 attendees from 120 economies, 800 exhibitors, and more than 30 Chinese mainland and international trade delegations. They brought together technology startups, financial institutions, investors, potential clients, policymakers, experts, scholars, and regulatory representatives from various sectors including fintech, artificial intelligence, life sciences, green technology, and new energy.

READ MORE: Reform, innovation revive optimism in mainland, Hong Kong markets

The finance chief emphasized that the government’s continuous investment in and cultivation of the I&T industry, as well as its experience in technological innovation, application promotion, standard setting, regulatory systems, and market development, have provided a reference for international counterparts.

READ MORE: HK’s I&T ecosystem seen connecting startups, venture capitalists

Last week, Hong Kong's I&T community hosted the ninth edition of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks' flagship I&T investment competition-- EPIC 2025-- that attracted over 1,500 guests. Encouragingly, this event is gradually becoming a key event in the international startup community, with a record-breaking 1,200 applications received this year from over 70 economies worldwide, with 87 percent of them being from non-local teams.

In recent years, many teams that have reached the EPIC finals have achieved remarkable success, Chan said. Some startups have attracted the attention of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and these funds support the local application of the technology in the Middle Eastern countries.  Other startups have developed into leading digital healthcare platforms in Asia, expanding their business networks to Vietnam and Indonesia.