LCQ13: Attracting strategic enterprises
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Question:
The Chief Executive announced in the 2022 Policy Address the establishment of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises dedicated to attract high-potential and representative strategic enterprises from around the globe, particularly those from certain strategic industries, to set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of strategic enterprises that have been attracted to Hong Kong to date,︀ and set out in the table below a breakdown by the nature of their entry into Hong Kong (i.e. (i) establishing their foothold and (ii) expanding their operations in Hong Kong),︀ the category of strategic industries (i.e. (a) life and health technology, (b) artificial intelligence and data science, (c) Fintech, (d) advanced manufacturing and new-energy technology and (e) others) as well as the respective industry to which such strategic industries belong;
| Category of strategic industries | Industry | Nature of attracting enterprises to Hong Kong |
|
| (i) | (ii) | ||
| (a) | …… | ||
| Sub-total | |||
| …… | …… | ||
| Sub-total | |||
| (e) | …… | ||
| Sub-total | |||
| Total | |||
(2) among the enterprises mentioned in (1), of the respective numbers of those which ︀(i) are leading enterprises,︀ and (ii) plan to set up their global or regional headquarters in Hong Kong;
(3) whether it knows, among the enterprises mentioned in (1), the number of those which have already commenced operation, together with a breakdown by the category of strategic industries (i.e. (a) life and health technology, (b) artificial intelligence and data science, (c) Fintech, (d) advanced manufacturing and new-energy technology, and (e) others) as well as the respective industry to which such strategic industries belong; whether it has compiled statistics on (i) the numbers of local and non-local staff employed (broken down by type of post), (ii) the numbers and types of research and development centres and production bases set up or planned to be set up by those enterprises which have already commenced operation, and (iii) the respective amounts of new investments involved; and
(4) what targeted measures the authorities have put in place to strengthen the nurturing and training of local talents from the aforesaid strategic industries, so as to facilitate the development of such industries in Hong Kong and provide the relevant talents with more room for development?
Reply:
President,
Since its establishment at the end of 2022, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) has successfully attracted a number of enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong, thereby accelerating the development of various industry ecosystems. My reply to the Hon Lam Chun-sing's questions is as follows:
(1) to (3) So far, the OASES has successfully attracted 66 strategic enterprises to establish their presence in Hong Kong. Approximately 60 per cent of these enterprises have set up their operations, while the remaining 40 per cent have expanded their existing businesses in the city, or are planning to doing so. The distribution of the 66 strategic enterprises by industry is as follows:
| Industry of Strategic Importance (Note) | No. of strategic enterprises |
| Life and health technology | 22 |
| Artificial intelligence and data science | 24 |
| Financial technology | 8 |
| Advanced manufacturing and new energy technology | 12 |
| Total | 66 |
Among the 66 strategic enterprises that the OASES has attracted, nearly half of them are leading enterprises. Eighty per cent of the strategic enterprises attracted to Hong Kong plan to establish their global or regional headquarters in Hong Kong. Sixty-four of the strategic enterprises have already commenced their operations, and the breakdown of these enterprises by industry is as follows:
| Industry of Strategic Importance | No. of strategic enterprises that have commenced operations |
| Life and health technology | 22 |
| Artificial intelligence and data science | 23 |
| Financial technology | 8 |
| Advanced manufacturing and new energy technology | 11 |
| Total | 64 |
All of the 66 strategic enterprises that have been attracted to Hong Kong have either established or plan to establish research and development centres and/or production bases in Hong Kong. It is estimated that over the coming years, they will invest about $42 billion in total and create around 17 000 jobs. Since the enterprises that have already commenced operations are still in the initial stages, and that details of their recruitment and investment plans involve internal business information, the OASES is currently unable to provide such information.
(4) The Government has all along encouraged the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities to offer programmes which cater for Hong Kong's development needs, expand the talent pool of important areas such as innovation and technology, and strengthen Hong Kong's competitiveness. In the 2022 Policy Address, we announced our target that by the 2026/27 academic year, there will be 35 per cent of students of the UGC-funded universities in STEAM subjects and 60 per cent in subjects relevant to Hong Kong's development into the eight centres (Note 1) in the 14th Five-Year Plan. The Government and the UGC will join hands with the universities in pursuit of the aforesaid target through the triennial Planning Exercise, thereby nurturing more talents that match the manpower needs for Hong Kong's strategic development. As regards the self-financing post-secondary education sector, self-financing institutions similarly have the flexibility to develop programmes that meet market needs and adjust the intake places of relevant programmes.
Furthermore, to attract and nurture future talent, the 2024 Policy Address announced a series of policies, including the establishment of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents, the establishment of the Steering Committee on Strategic Development of Digital Education, and continued efforts to promote Hong Kong as an international hub for post-secondary education, among others. These measures aim to develop Hong Kong's high-calibre talents and contribute to the high-quality development of the strategic enterprises, benefiting both the country and Hong Kong.
The OASES also provides employees of target enterprises with one-stop facilitation services in areas such as visa application and education arrangement for their children, etc, and works closely with the Immigration Department to provide appropriate assistance for the strategic enterprises' applications for various talent schemes.
Note 1: The eight centres include: international financial centre, international innovation and technology centre, East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, international trade centre, international shipping centre, international aviation hub, centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia‑Pacific region as well as regional intellectual property trading centre.
Ends/Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Issued at HKT 20:10
Issued at HKT 20:10
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