Hong Kong to delve into new markets as firms lured to city hits 100: leaders Hong Kong will step up efforts to lure foreign investment and venture into new markets amid geopolitical challenges and trade tensions, as it teams up with mainland Chinese businesses to seize opportunities abroad, the city leader has said. The vow by John Lee Ka-chiu on Sunday came as Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed that the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (Oases) would soon announce the fifth batch of strategic enterprises establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong, an addition expected to take the total to about 100. Speaking ahead of his policy address schedules to be delivered next month, Chief Executive Lee highlighted Hong Kong’s strengths in convincing foreign businesses to expand their operations locally, while also helping mainland companies go global. As of July, the Companies Registry listed more than 1.5 million local businesses and over 15,000 non-local firms, a record, he noted. InvestHK, the city’s investment promotion agency, had helped 1,333 companies establish or expand their operations in Hong Kong between January 2023 and last month, bringing in HK$174 billion (US$22.1 billion) in direct investment within their first year of operation while creating more than 19,000 jobs, he added. Finance chief Chan, meanwhile, noted Oases had already lured 84 leading companies in frontier technology since its establishment in 2022, and they were expected to generate about HK$50 billion in investment and create more than 20,000 jobs in the coming few years. The office would soon announce the fifth batch of strategic enterprises establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong, taking the total number to about 100, he revealed. The new arrivals consisted of more than 10 businesses, including some overseas companies, such as internationally leading pharmaceutical firms. He said Hong Kong was an “ideal landing spot” for such companies to explore the mainland and Asian markets, thanks to the city’s advanced healthcare services and research system, as well as the government’s mechanisms for approving new drugs and machinery under planning. Chan added the market and collaboration in medical technology and clinical trials in the Greater Bay Area, a Beijing initiative linking Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities into an integrated economic and business hub, also served as an incentive for such companies to plan their business expansion in the financial centre. The office would continue to lure companies from life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, as well as target cultural and creative enterprises that integrated innovation into their operation, he said. He said a diverse range of industries, coupled with quality job opportunities and an outstanding education and living environment, would help retain talented professionals and advance development. Chan also said the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, the government’s investment arm established in 2022, had not only cultivated local start-ups and corporations but also invested in quality mainland and overseas firms as it enticed them to Hong Kong. It had so far invested in more than 100 projects, with more than 10 companies applying or preparing to file listing applications with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. the finance chief noted. Chan noted that every Hong Kong dollar invested by the corporation had attracted more than HK$5 in long-term capital from the investment market, including sovereign wealth funds, retirement funds, corporate venture capital firms and family offices. He added that the corporation had also helped to promote Hong Kong’s professional services and the mainland’s standards and skills overseas, noting that one project had led to the export of local electric vehicle charging technology to Thailand. Chan said the government had actively promoted closer collaboration among the government, industry, academics, and research and investment sectors. Firms arriving in the city had set up research centres and started to cooperate with local universities in transforming and applying research results. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3321375/hong-kong-delve-new-markets-firms-lured-city-hits-100-leaders?module=top_story&pgtype=section (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post