Financial Secretary Paul Chan began his visit to San Francisco, where he promoted innovation and technology co-operation between Hong Kong and the US.

Mr Chan discussed the latest trends of automation and artificial intelligence with the management of Automation Anywhere, a robotic process automation software developer.

With offices around the world, the firm offers services to different industries to improve operational efficiency through automation.

The Financial Secretary said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has devoted resources to seize the opportunities brought about by the development of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies.

The HKSAR Government has allocated $10 billion to the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) to enhance support for its tenants and incubatees, and another $10 billion to establish two innovative clusters in the Science Park to focus on healthcare, AI and robotics technologies, he added.

At a lunch with representatives of major venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, Mr Chan gave an overview of the financial and professional support to startups, the listing regime that attracts the new economy sector, and the initiatives to encourage private equity funds to set up and operate in Hong Kong.

Noting that the city’s fast growing startup community has more than 2,600 companies, he said venture capitalists are welcome to invest in Hong Kong.

Mr Chan then visited NVIDIA where he received an update on the development of AI application. The company is one of the partners involved in setting up the Data Analytics Platform with the HKSTP for smart city development.

He also met with the top management of AutoX, a developer of autonomous driving technology.

Mr Chan encouraged the company’s founder, who is a graduate of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, to take part in promoting Hong Kong as a smart city.

He then met Consul General of the People's Republic of China in San Francisco Wang Donghua.