The Government will actively follow up on the recommendations made by the Steering Group on Financial Technologies to drive the development and application of FinTech in Hong Kong.
Delivering his 2016-17 Budget today, Financial Secretary John Tsang said the provision of financial services is no longer confined to traditional financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies.
"By leveraging the Internet and mobile technologies, telecommunication companies, e-commerce enterprises and start-ups are now able to provide financial services to individuals and enterprises."
Invest Hong Kong will set up a dedicated team to organise international events and facilitate start-ups, investors, and research and development institutions to establish their presence in Hong Kong.
Cyberport will set aside a dedicated space of 3,000 square metres in its Smart-Space co-working space and roll out a designated programme to support 150 FinTech start-ups over the next five years.
The Monetary Authority, the Securities & Futures Commission and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance will set up FinTech dedicated platforms to liaise with the industry to ensure a balance between market demand and investor understanding and tolerance of risk when introducing innovative financial products and services.
To support research and development the Science & Technology Parks Corporation will allocate $8.2 billion to promote smart production and research.
The Government has also earmarked $500 million to set up the Innovation & Technology Fund for Better Living to encourage different sectors to apply innovation and technology to improve life quality.
It will inject $2 billion to launch a Midstream Research Programme for universities to carry out research in key technology areas, and increase the cash rebate for enterprises’ R&D activities.
To encourage SMEs to put more resources into R&D works, the Government will increase the level of cash rebate under the R&D Cash Rebate Scheme to 40%.
To support start-ups the Government will set up the $2 billion Innovation & Technology Venture Fund to encourage more funding from private venture funds in tech start-ups through a matching process.
It will also allocate $4.4 billion to expand the Science Park in stages to provide more floor area for startups and tech firms. While Cyberport will earmark $200 million to invest in start-ups.
