Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said talent is the foundation of innovation and technology, noting that building an international innovation center requires both attracting enterprise investment and nurturing local research capabilities.
Writing in his blog, Chan said local research continues to achieve international recognition and practical applications.
He pointed out that Lingnan University won awards across all fourteen entries at the Silicon Valley International Inventions Festival in August, securing eight gold medals and becoming the local higher education institution with the highest number of awards and gold medals for two consecutive years.
Chan added that products and technologies from several local tech startups—ranging from electric vehicle charging solutions and building cooling coatings to coral restoration reef tiles and construction site battery energy storage systems—have expanded into multiple overseas markets.
This demonstrates that Hong Kong's research strengths and innovative ideas are successfully translating into practical benefits and commercial opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises has welcomed its seventh batch of 18 strategic enterprises, with half originating from outside mainland China. Together with previous batches, a cumulative total of 142 strategic enterprises have established or expanded their operations in Hong Kong, which is expected to bring in approximately HK$84 billion in investment over the coming years.
Furthermore, these corporate investments are steadily materializing on the ground. The actual investments and employment numbers for the first six batches both significantly outpaced expectations, exceeding their initial milestone targets by 30 percent and 34 percent respectively.
