Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, in the Legislative Council today (April 16):

Question:
 
     Regarding the support for the development and application of technologies by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of applications made by enterprises on their own or through intermediaries under various funding schemes for supporting the development and application of technologies by SMEs in each of the past five years, as well as the respective amounts of funding approved, and set out in the table below a breakdown by funding schemes; and 

Year: _________
 

Funding scheme	Number of applications approved			Amount of funding approved
	Applications made by enterprises on their own	Applications made through intermediaries	Total	Applications made by enterprises on their own	Applications made through intermediarie	Total amounts
Funding schemes supporting research and development under the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)
(a) Enterprise Support Scheme
(b) Research and Development Cash Rebate Scheme
Funding scheme promoting new industrialisation under the ITF
(c) New Industrialisation Funding Scheme
Funding scheme supporting technology start-ups under the ITF
(d) Innovation and Technology Venture Fund
Funding schemes for the logistics industry
(e) Pilot Subsidy Scheme for Third-party Logistics Service Providers
Funding schemes under the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) Corporation
(f) Acceleration Programme
(g) Ideation Programme
(h) Incubation Programme
(i) Incu-Bio Programme
(j) HKSTP Venture Fund
Funding schemes under the Cyberport
(k) Cyberport Creative Micro Fund
(l) Cyberport Incubation Programme
(m) Cyberport Accelerator Support Programme
(n) Cyberport Macro Fund
(o) Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme

 
(2) apart from the 15 funding schemes mentioned in (1)(a) to (o), whether the Government has other funding schemes to support SMEs in developing innovative technologies or applying technologies to enhance productivity, and whether it has evaluated the effectiveness of such schemes? 

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, my consolidated reply to the questions raised by the Hon Andrew Lam is as follows:

     In the past five years, regarding the funding schemes for supporting the development and application of technologies by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) covered by the questions, the numbers of applications approved and amounts of funding approved are tabulated below:

 

Funding scheme	Year	Number of applications approved			Amount of funding approved ($)
		Applications made by enterprises on their own	Applications made through intermediaries	Total	Applications made by enterprises on their own	Applications made through intermediaries	Total amounts
Funding schemes supporting research and development under the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)
(a) Enterprise Support Scheme	2020	32	0	32	87 million	0	87 million
	2021	27	0	27	59 million	0	59 million
	2022	21	0	21	63 million	0	63 million
	2023	14	0	14	56 million	0	56 million
	2024	17	0	17	49 million	0	49 million
(b) Research and Development Cash Rebate Scheme	2020	311	0	311	142 million	0	142 million
	2021	368	0	368	136 million	0	136 million
	2022	270	0	270	115 million	0	115 million
	2023	320	0	320	141 million	0	141 million
	2024	329	0	329	166 million	0	166 million
Funding scheme promoting new industrialisation under the ITF
(c) New Industrialisation Funding Scheme	2020	4	0	4	9 million	0	9 million
	2021	10	0	10	94 million	0	94 million
	2022	9	0	9	111 million	0	111 million
	2023	10	0	10	29 million	0	29 million
	2024	27	0	27	122 million	0	122 million
Funding scheme supporting technology start-ups under the ITF
(d) Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF)	2020	ITVF would co-invest with venture capital funds selected as co-investment partners (CPs) at a matching ratio of approximately 1 (Government) : 2 (CP) upon the invitation of the latter. Enterprises cannot apply for this scheme on their own or through intermediaries.		15	ITVF would co-invest with venture capital funds selected as CPs at a matching ratio of approximately 1 (Government) : 2 (CP) upon the invitation of the latter. Enterprises cannot apply for this scheme on their own or through intermediaries.		51.9 million
	2021			7			70.1 million
	2022			6			31.2 million
	2023			3			6.8 million
	2024			20			129 million
Funding scheme for the logistics industry
(e) Pilot Subsidy Scheme for Third-party Logistics Service Providers	2020	The Scheme was launched in October 2020 with the first application approved in January 2021.
	2021	136	0	136	85 million	0	85 million
	2022	37	0	37	17.6 million	0	17.6 million
	2023	54	0	54	34.1 million	0	34.1 million
	2024	45	0	45	25.9 million	0	25.9 million
Funding schemes under the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC)
(f) Ideation Programme	2020	HKSTPC did not maintain relevant information.		126	HKSTPC did not maintain relevant information.		12.6 million
	2021			211			21.1 million
	2022			500			50 million
	2023			599			59.9 million
	2024			871			87.1 million
(g) Incubation Programme	2020			109			141 million
	2021			76			98 million
	2022			119			153 million
	2023			197			254 million
	2024			151			195 million
(h) Incu-Bio Programme	2020			12			72 million
	2021			10			60 million
	2022			17			120 million
	2023			11			66 million
	2024			24			144 million
(i) Acceleration Programme	2020			16			76.8 million
	2021			12			57.6 million
	2022			4			19.2 million
	2023			12			57.6 million
	2024			11			52.8 million
(j) Corporate Venture Fund	2020			4			28 million
	2021			6			175 million
	2022			6			87.2 million
	2023			1			19.5 million
	2024			6			63 million
Funding schemes under Cyberport
(k) Cyberport Creative Micro Fund	2020	86	0	86	8.6 million	0	8.6 million
	2021	105	0	105	10.5 million	0	10.5 million
	2022	95	0	95	9.5 million	0	9.5 million
	2023	110	0	110	11 million	0	11 million
	2024	98	0	98	9.8 million	0	9.8 million
(l) Cyberport Incubation Programme	2020	128	0	128	64 million	0	64 million
	2021	129	0	129	64.5 million	0	64.5 million
	2022	128	0	128	64 million	0	64 million
	2023	144	0	144	72 million	0	72 million
	2024	125	0	125	62.5 million	0	62.5 million
(m) Cyberport Accelerator Support Programme	2020	37	0	37	2.4 million	0	2.4 million
	2021	27	0	27	2.8 million	0	2.8 million
	2022	39	0	39	2.4 million	0	2.4 million
	2023	19	0	19	2 million	0	2 million
	2024	13	0	13	0.9 million	0	0.9 million
(n) Cyberport Macro Fund	2020	6	0	6	35 million	0	35 million
	2021	4	0	4	35.7 million	0	35.7 million
	2022	4	0	4	14.1 million	0	14.1 million
	2023	1	0	1	3.9 million	0	3.9 million
	2024	1	0	1	7.8 million	0	7.8 million
(o) Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme	2020	The Programme was formally open for applications from SMEs in early 2024.
	2021
	2022
	2023
	2024	2 054	0	2 054	99.4 million	0	99.4 million

     Relevant government bureaux and departments will continue to closely monitor the actual situation, promote and support SMEs to develop innovation and technology or adopt technologies to enhance productivity.

Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:20

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