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Attracting Businesses and Talent for a Better Economy and Vote at DC Election for a Better Community
December is fast approaching. Over the past year, we have emerged from the pandemic, but there are challenges and pressures in the post-epidemic recovery process. We must step up our efforts to reinforce our existing advantages, and at the same time create new impetus for growth. In recent years, we have continued to invest and promote innovative technologies and new industrialisation, and strengthened the commercialisation of research and development outcomes and development of I&T industrialisation. In addition, the whole Hong Kong SAR government is actively promoting Hong Kong's new advantages to the outside world and attracting investment at full speed. We are seeing positive outcomes.
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| Attending the Plaques Unveiling Ceremony for the Establishment of AstraZeneca R&D Centre and iCampus last week. |
Take the development of I&T and investment promotion for example. With the preparatory work done by the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises and other colleagues, during my earlier visit to Europe, I visited the leading pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in the United Kingdom to encourage them to conduct research and development (R&D) work in Hong Kong. It can be said that the sincerity and efforts of the SAR government, as well as the potential of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the huge market of the entire Mainland and Asia, are the main factors for many I&T companies to actively consider settling in Hong Kong. Recently, I attended the Plaques Unveiling Ceremony for the establishment of AstraZeneca’s R&D Centre and iCampus in Hong Kong. This is the first time that one of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies set up an R&D centre in Hong Kong. It is expected that AstraZeneca will set up an R&D team of about 100 people in Hong Kong in a few years. As our OASES Partner, AstraZeneca also organised a group of about 80 Mainland pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises to visit Hong Kong to get a first-hand understanding of Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem and business environment. With strategic enterprises working together with their upstream, midstream and downstream enterprises, they will help us create a more robust I&T industry chain and a vibrant ecosystem.
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| Speaking at the Plaques Unveiling Ceremony for the Establishment of AstraZeneca R&D Centre and iCampus. |
When I was in San Francisco, the United States, attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, I also met with two companies in the Silicon Valley. One of them manufactures advanced medical equipment; and another is a start-up that combines artificial intelligence with biotech. Both of them are highly interested in landing in Hong Kong, and are actively considering setting up R&D centers and regional headquarters to speed up their expansion plans in Asia.
From leading international pharmaceutical firms to Silicon Valley start-ups, as well as many overseas companies in different industries, they are actively considering landing in Hong Kong, or have decided to do so. The institutional advantages of "One Country, Two Systems" are the key strength of Hong Kong that attracts them: Hong Kong continues to implement the common law system; has a comprehensive intellectual property protection system; the free flow of funds, goods, information and talents, which is conducive to the convergence of talents and funds, as well as the exchange and protection of innovative R&D outcomes. The Hong Kong SAR Government and Mainland regulatory authorities are jointly promoting the lawful and orderly cross-boundary flow of data within the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong will bring together Mainland and international data at the same time, which will greatly facilitate Hong Kong's development in artificial intelligence, including R&D related to large model training or inferential applications. This also explains why we had stated in this year’s Budget that we would press ahead with developing an Artificial Intelligence Supercomputing Centre.
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| Visiting an artificial intelligence and life technology startup in the Silicon Valley, United States, and listening to a presentation by the company representatives. |
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| Visiting a startup engaged in artificial intelligence and life technology in the Silicon Valley, United States, and listening to a presentation by the company representatives. |
In fact, we are making steady progress on our investment promotion work. Apart from attracting strategic enterprises, Invest Hong Kong also assisted over 330 Mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong in the first ten months of this year, an increase of 30% over the same period last year, creating over 3 700 job opportunities for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s unique institutional advantages and market advantages through the support from our Motherland have attracted many top-notch technology companies or startups to consider setting up operations in Hong Kong. At the same time, many venture capital or private equity funds are proactively exploring to expand their operations in Hong Kong, and one of the reasons for this is the desire to attract funding from more diverse sources, including new capital from the Middle East. In October last year, I attended the FII summit in Saudi Arabia, where I personally witnessed the vibrancy of the event and the rising business opportunities. I also encouraged them to come to Hong Kong to explore development opportunities. Next week, FII’s first Asia Summit will be held in Hong Kong. Political, business, and investment leaders from the Middle East and Asia will gather here in Hong Kong. Events as such be conducive to financial and investment exchanges between Hong Kong and the Middle East.
Besides, Asia’s first ever ETF investing in Saudi Arabia will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this Wednesday. Investors will be able to trade the constituent stocks of the Saudi stock market index in Hong Kong through the ETF using HKD or RMB, and the relevant portfolio includes oil giant Saudi Aramco. The asset size of this ETF is the largest among similar products in the world, and it is a practical example of financial connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative. I look forward to more two-way cooperation on financial products between the two places in the future, enabling broader financial connectivity and capital flows.
In fact, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited has successively included Saudi Exchange and Indonesia Stock Exchange into the list of Recognized Stock Exchanges, allowing companies with a primary listing on these exchanges to apply for a secondary listing in Hong Kong. Saudi Exchange brings together large-scale energy, industrial, and medical industries in the Middle East, while Indonesia Stock Exchange is the capital raising venue for many high-quality innovative companies in Southeast Asia. Encouraging companies from these two emerging markets to make use of Hong Kong for fund-raising will also provide them with greater incentives to set up operations and expand their businesses here.
While we need to keep injecting new power to fuel our economy, we should also gather forces to improve people’s livelihood. Specifically, District Councils (DCs), our service platforms at the district level, will need to fulfill their roles to enhance district services, foster better community relations which promote care and mutual support, and convey public sentiment and opinions. I call on all of you to participate actively in the upcoming DC Elections on 10 December 2023. Cast your vote to express your expectations and aspirations for a better community that we can build together with team efforts.
November 26, 2023
