New firms with up to HK$100 billion in market value to set up shop in Hong Kong Hong Kong is set to announce on Monday a new batch of “strategic enterprises” establishing a presence in the city, including several firms with market capitalisations of up to HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion), the finance chief has revealed. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that the new partners were in high-growth sectors, including life and health technology, the low-altitude economy, artificial intelligence (AI), new energy materials and fintech. “Those life and health technology companies have been regarded as world leaders in their fields. They will conduct clinical research in Hong Kong, further bolstering Hong Kong’s position in the field of international medical research and development,” he said in his weekly blog. The names of these companies establishing or expanding their operations in Hong Kong are expected to be revealed by the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) on Monday. Chan said some “strategic enterprises” planned to establish research and development centres, treasury centres and regional headquarters in the city. He said the moves would reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a “superconnector” between mainland China and international markets, while fostering a more “vibrant” local innovation and technology ecosystem. The finance chief stressed the need to “move at full speed” to develop emerging industries for the future, as the city navigated complex geopolitical tensions and the dual pressures of climate change and energy security. OASES was established in late 2022 to draw high-potential companies to Hong Kong from the mainland and overseas through tailored land and tax incentives. The latest batch of strategic enterprise partners was announced in October last year, including pharmaceutical companies and firms developing large language models for AI and autonomous driving technologies. OASES said then that the total number of strategic companies it had attracted to Hong Kong would surpass 100. The firms were expected to bring HK$60 billion in investment and create about 22,000 job opportunities. Speaking on a radio show on Sunday, Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang urged the city’s professional services industries and the government to “take the extra mile” to help mainland enterprises from emerging sectors go global. “We should think more about how we can cooperate with [enterprises from] these industries that are newly qualified for entering the international market,” he said, referring to hi-tech sectors such as electric vehicles and biotechnology that saw rapid development on the mainland in the past few years. Ma also said the TDC had devoted more resources to fostering ties with emerging markets, including South American, Eastern European and Central Asian countries, through its 51 overseas and mainland offices. According to Ma, the council hired a consultant in Kazakhstan and might set up an office there if trading ties between the two sides develop further, while its offices in the United States have also devoted more resources to target South American business partners. A source explained that trade in Kazakhstan had picked up significantly due to the Ukraine war, with the country serving as a neutral hub for re-exporting goods to Russia that faced Western sanctions. The council, therefore, planned to seize opportunities to bring in Hong Kong businesses to invest and provide services there, the source said. Government figures showed that more than 11,000 non-local enterprises had established a presence in Hong Kong as of last year. This figure is a record high and represents an 11 per cent increase from the previous year. But a closer look at the statistics showed that only 1,510 of the businesses were regional headquarters, a marginal increase of 100 from 2024 and below the 2019 number of 1,541. These regional headquarters employed 143,000 people last year, a 26 per cent drop from 195,000 in 2019. In contrast, more than 7,000 of the companies set up a local office in Hong Kong in 2025, a move seen as bringing minimal economic benefits, with 80 per cent of them hiring fewer than 20 employees. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3350608/new-firms-hk100-billion-market-capitalisation-set-shop-hong-kong?module=top_story&pgtype=section (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post