900 technology companies drawn to Hong Kong amid city’s innovation drive, but business leaders call for targeted policies to support their fields
- Government says 400 companies set up shop at Hong Kong Science Park over past 12 months, while 489 businesses chose hi-tech park Cyberport
- Innovators call for targeted policies to help respective fields, such as creating city’s answer to US Food and Drug Administration and boosting hydrogen fuel research
About 900 technology companies this year chose to establish a foothold in Hong Kong amid efforts to transform the city into an innovation hub, with some business leaders urging authorities to introduce policies to help grow their respective fields.
The government said the Hong Kong Science Park, a tech hub in Pak Shek Kok, welcomed 400 companies over the past 12 months, a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent, with 20 per cent of the businesses coming from mainland China or overseas.
Over at Cyberport in Pok Fu Lam, 489 companies decided to establish themselves at the hi-tech park in the same period, representing a 7 per cent rise over the year before.
Zhou Gaobo, chief investment officer at Simcere, told the Post that the Chinese pharmaceutical company had set up at the Science Park last month because of the top-quality local universities and the city’s reputation for world-leading research in the fields of science and technology.
Both factors would help the company to quickly ramp up its clinical research and commercialisation efforts, he added.
“Clinical data generated in Hong Kong is recognised globally. Biotech has been identified as one of the key areas that will be actually prioritised and supported by the government,” Zhou said.
The city could serve as a stepping stone for the company to expand into markets in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world, he said.
