Hong Kong’s startup count has climbed from around 1,500 in 2015 to more than 5,200 in 2025, and its finance chief wants that tech base working for partners abroad. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po laid out the idea in his blog on Sunday, 13 September.
Chan said Hong Kong would deepen ties with emerging economies worldwide, widening links with the Middle East and Belt and Road countries in finance, innovation and technology, and the green transition. The city aims to build “networked and institutionalised” connectivity with the Global South, a broad term for developing, less-industrialised countries mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
He said Hong Kong had broadened these ties over the past week, from the Middle East to Central Asia. Collaboration under the Belt and Road Initiative, he wrote, is moving from standalone projects into a networked, institutionalised framework.
Backing from Beijing
Chan tied the push to the national 15th Five-Year Plan, which supports Hong Kong’s drive to become an international innovation and technology hub while consolidating its position in finance, shipping and trade. That backing from the central government, he wrote, gives the city momentum to speed up partnerships with the Global South.
Research and development is a main channel. Chan pointed to Hong Kong’s R&D strength and its close integration with the technology and industrial supply chains of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Science Park and Cyberport, he noted, have nurtured around 20 unicorn enterprises.
Sources
- Hong Kong to deepen ties with Global South and Middle East, finance chief says
- Hong Kong deepens ties with Global South in finance, I&T: HKSAR financial chief
