Data indicates govt's policy provides attractive environment for start-ups: CE
Chief Executive John Lee pointed out today (Dec. 17) at a media session before the Executive Council meeting that over the past two and a half years, Hong Kong has made significant achievements in various fields, some of which are reflected in international rankings.
These include Hong Kong being ranked again as the world's freest economy, regaining its position as the third-largest international financial center, rising two places to fifth in global competitiveness, and improving its talent competitiveness by seven places to return to the top ten.
These achievements reflect the international community's confidence in Hong Kong and demonstrate that the government is on the right track with its policies.
Lee emphasized that since taking office, the current government has been proactive, introducing several reform measures to attract talent and businesses. Initiatives include establishing the Hong Kong Talent Engage and the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), and developing the "headquarters economy".
The Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) agency has actively sought to attract and assist many overseas companies to establish or expand their businesses in Hong Kong.
He is pleased to see these measures yielding positive results, particularly reflected in recently collected data.
According to the latest annual survey by InvestHK and the Census and Statistics Department, the number of companies from various countries based in Hong Kong has increased significantly, with a 17% rise in Italian companies, a 12% increase from the UK, about a 10% increase from Singapore, Germany, and Switzerland, and a 9% increase from the US.
The number of companies from two emerging markets that the government is focusing on— the Middle East and ASEAN—also saw substantial increases of 25% and 13%, respectively.
Additionally, Lee stated that the early 2024 start-up company survey conducted by InvestHK shows that the number of start-ups in Hong Kong has reached a historic high this year, nearing 4,700, which is an annual increase of about 10%. The number of employees in these start-ups has reached 18,000, reflecting a 7% annual increase.
This data indicates that the SAR government's policies this year have provided an ideal and attractive environment for the start-up ecosystem. Besides locally founded start-ups, 40% of other founders come from the mainland, while 60% are from countries or regions such as the UK, US, France, and Canada.
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