Hong Kong to promote innovation with US$38 million from investment migration scheme

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The Hong Kong government’s investment arm will use funds from the investment migration scheme to promote innovation

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Enoch Yiu

Published: 4:18pm, 11 Nov 2024Updated: 4:44pm, 11 Nov 2024

The Hong Kong government’s investment arm will use the more than HK$300 million (US$38.46 million) that it collected from the investment migration scheme to promote innovation and technology in the city.

The government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) said on Monday that it would begin investing the money in the first quarter of 2025, adding that it will set up a new investment portfolio for this purpose. The HKIC manages HK$62 billion in funds.

Launched on March 1, the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) is better known as the investment-migration scheme. Applicants under this programme must invest at least HK$30 million in funds, stocks, bonds or other vehicles, in exchange for residency for their family in the city. Under this plan, the government requires 10 per cent of each applicant’s investment to be pooled in a fund managed by the HKIC to invest in projects that promote innovation and the long-term development of the city.

According to data from InvestHK, the government agency that administers the CIES, the scheme had received 550 applications as of the end of September, accounting for a total of HK$16.5 billion in investments.

“The international status of Hong Kong is very important for innovative industries and enterprises” because these start-ups need to have a global mindset, international clientele and supply chain, Clara Chan Ka-chai, CEO of the HKIC, said in July. “Hong Kong provides a great foothold for that. Hong Kong’s low taxes, free flow of data, capital and [talent] and our robust financial system are helping businesses to grow.”

The HKIC will select two to four Hong Kong-based fund firms with assets under management of at least HK$200 million to invest the portfolio. The firms’ key managers must all live in Hong Kong and half of its employees need to be local residents. In addition, investments must be in line with certain themes.