The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) today held the OASES Partnership Signing Ceremony and welcomed a new batch of strategic enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong.

At the ceremony witnessed by Chief Executive John Lee and Financial Secretary Paul Chan, 25 strategic enterprises signed agreements to become the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s strategic enterprise partners. 

OASES said most of the new batch of strategic enterprises will set up research and development centres or regional business headquarters in Hong Kong.

Among the 25 strategic enterprises, 19 of them are from the second batch, while the other six are from the first batch which were unable to join the OASES Partnership launch ceremony last October due to scheduling reasons.

These enterprises come from industries including life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, fintech, and advanced manufacturing and new energy. Six of the enterprises are from the US, while the rest are from the Mainland.

In addition to investing in Hong Kong, the enterprises will actively bring in upstream, midstream and downstream partners from their industry chains to the city, thereby promoting a more vibrant development of the innovation and technology (I&T) sector, OASES noted.

OASES added that theses strategic enterprises, including the first batch of strategic enterprises attracted to the city earlier, will invest more than $40 billion in total in Hong Kong in the coming years, and create over 13,000 jobs, the majority of which would be scientific research and management positions.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Executive said the signings which took place last October and today meant that some 50 strategic, high-powered companies have chosen Hong Kong to establish or expand their business.

Mr Lee pointed out this is just the beginning, adding that the presence of the enterprises in the city will create important momentum and help to attract a wealth of partners and related companies to Hong Kong, which in turn, will bolster the its fast-rising I&T sector.

“Our commitment in I&T is in line with the country's emphasis on the leading role of innovation. The Report on the Work of the Government adopted at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress earlier this month, stressed the importance of new quality productive forces to power the country's growth and high-quality development,” Mr Lee noted.

He also expressed confidence that the strategic enterprises would continue to thrive in Hong Kong, highlighting that it is the only city in the world that converges both the China advantage and the global advantage, under the “one country, two systems” principle.

“Given our long-standing strengths in finance, intellectual property protection and connectivity, Hong Kong can enable technology transfer, attract foreign investment and create the cross-boundary collaborations that drive innovation and technology.”

Over 200 representatives from strategic enterprises, local and foreign chambers of commerce, research institutions, government bureaus or departments as well as public organisations attended the signing ceremony.

Looking ahead, OASES aims to reach out to no less than 300 strategic enterprises this year to negotiate for establishing a foothold or expanding their operations in Hong Kong.