Hong Kong remains attractive for tech companies, InvestHK data shows
InvestHK assisted 99 companies engaged in the innovation and technology sectors to set up or expand in Hong Kong in 2018.
Hong Kong remains a top destination for innovation and technology companies, as indicated by fresh data published by Invest Hong Kong earlier today.
The Department assisted 436 overseas and Mainland companies to set up or expand in Hong Kong in 2018. This number represents an all-time high and a year-on-year increase of 8.5%. The number of jobs thereby created (5 268) rose by 3.3% compared to the preceding year.
The 436 companies came from 43 economies. Mainland China continued to provide the most with a total of 101 companies, followed by the US (63), the UK (43), France (26) and Australia and Singapore (both 20).
These findings are in line with recent survey results showing that the number of businesses in Hong Kong with parent companies overseas and in Mainland China increased to 8,754 in 2018, compared to 8,225 a year ago. Across sectors, import/export trade, wholesale and retail topped the list (3,950), followed by financing and banking (1,806), and professional, business and education services (1,262).
InvestHK’s Director-General of Investment Promotion, Stephen Phillips, attributed investors’ interest in Hong Kong on core advantages and emerging business opportunities, especially in light of the Belt and Road initiative and the latest developments in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay area.
InvestHK assisted companies from a broad range of sectors. The top sector was innovation and technology (99 companies), followed by tourism and hospitality (61) and transport and industrial (59).
Speaking of technology and innovation, let’s note the growth in the take-up of the Faster Payment System. Data released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in November 2018 showed that the FPS has recorded a total of 1.59 million registrations.
During the first month of fully fledged operations (October 2018), the FPS processed a total of 1.58 million transactions, including 1.56 million transactions denominated in Hong Kong dollar which amounts to HK$33.3 billion. Out of the HKD transactions, 828,000 transactions (HK$2.4 billion in value) were transfers made by personal customers through an account proxy (including mobile number, email address and FPS ID).
