Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the second batch of about 20 strategic enterprises will start setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong this week, which will bring in a total of HK$40 billion worth of investments along with the first batch of 30 such companies.

The first two batches of 50 key companies are expected to create about 130,000 jobs in the city, among which most are research and management positions, Chan said in his weekly blog, adding that it will help lure upstream, midstream, and downstream companies in related industries to Hong Kong, promoting the innovation and technology ecosystem.

In October last year, the government announced about 30 foreign or mainland firms have plans to set up operations in the city including UK drug giant AstraZeneca, China's tech titan Huawei, food delivery platform Meituan (3690), e-commerce giant JD.com (9618), and Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo (0992).

The government said at that time that these 30 firms would invest HK$30 billion in the city and create 10,000 jobs.

The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises led by Chan was set up in December 2022 to attract businesses from the mainland and overseas by offering them special facilities and one-stop services.

Meanwhile, Chan said that Hong Kong is well-placed to capture opportunities amid changes in international trade patterns with a solid foundation in trade and related professional services.

This came as traditional markets such as Europe and the United States saw a declining proportion in Hong Kong's exports while new markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East became more important, Chan noted.

The proportion of exports to the United States dropped to 6.5 percent last year from 18.6 percent in 2003 while that to the European Union also dropped from 10.5 percent to 6.6 percent during the same period, Chan said. Meanwhile, the proportion of exports to Asean countries increased to 7.9 percent last year from 6.1 percent, making it Hong Kong's second-largest export market after mainland China. The share of exports to the Middle East also rose to 3.3 percent last year.

The first two batches of 50 firms will also create 130,000 jobs, says Paul Chan. Sing Tao

20 key firms will pump $40b into HK economy