Speech by FS at HKSTP Co-Development and Investment Conference 2026 (English only) (with photos/video)
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Cordelia (Chairman of the HKSTP, Ms Cordelia Chung), Terry (Chief Executive Officer of the HKSTP, Mr Terry Wong), Lillian (Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Ms Lillian Cheong), investors, start-ups, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It is a pleasure to join you at the inaugural Co-Development and Investment Conference. I must say the name of this conference goes straight to the heart of the matter: co-development and co-investment. When capital markets and the technology industry are properly connected - when they work as one - innovation accelerates.
Over the next two days, this conference brings together some 300 investors and more than 500 start-ups, along with leading figures from finance and academia, for a full and inspiring programme of discussions, pitching and business matching. And the journey doesn't end in Hong Kong. The Conference continues for another four days in Dongguan and Hangzhou, linking three cities and three innovation centres in a single, six-day programme.
Innovation and technology are, without question, the global economy's most powerful engines today. Artificial intelligence is advancing at extraordinary speed, setting off a wave of capital spending - on computing power, equipment and infrastructure - and opening up practical applications in almost every field. We see this across Asia, where AI is lifting trade and reshaping regional supply chains. And we see it vividly here in Hong Kong, in the strong growth of our electronics and semiconductor exports and in our capital market's appetite for AI-related listings.
More important still, AI is transforming industry after industry. In biomedicine, for instance, it is dramatically compressing the time it takes to discover a new drug. And as AI moves into the physical world - into factories, shops and homes - it will generate a difference in kind rather than one merely of degree, with the range of applications expanding exponentially.
Opportunities of this magnitude call for real-world settings, where new technologies can be tested and proven. They call for innovation that is able to translate scientific discovery into commercial application. And they call for a capital chain deep enough to take innovation to the global market.
That is why both sides of this room are essential. For global investors, in a world overshadowed by geopolitics, the requirement is twofold: stability and security on the one hand, attractive returns on the other. For innovators and entrepreneurs, capital alone is not enough. They need an industrial ecosystem, a steady supply of talent and access to the full range of innovation resources.
Nowhere is the combination of finance and innovation stronger than in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong is an international financial centre, a magnet for talent from around the world and home to fast-rising innovation. That makes Hong Kong a natural complement to our sister cities in the Greater Bay Area, with their formidable strengths in advanced manufacturing, commercialisation and scaling.
Indeed, Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou is the world's leading innovation cluster, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. This year's ranking will be released tomorrow, and we await it with unshakeable confidence.
I understand my colleague, Lillian, the Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, will have more to say about Hong Kong and innovation in her keynote shortly. Let me just say this: our innovation flagships, including Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, play an indispensable role: nurturing start-ups, building networks, developing talent and deepening collaboration with regional and international partners.
For the next few minutes, allow me to talk about capital.
We are building a capital ecosystem that works for start-ups and serves innovation. According to the HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited), the technology sector's share of turnover in our market has increased over the past decade from 15 per cent to 47 per cent, and the turnover itself has grown more than eightfold.
That's the result of sustained reform, carried out hand in hand with the market, to make it easier for technology companies to list here. In 2018, Hong Kong opened to companies with weighted voting rights structures. In 2023, we introduced Chapter 18C to the Main Board Listing Rules for specialist technology companies yet to turn a profit. And we are now, once again, reviewing the listing regime, so that it fits the needs of innovative companies even better.
At the front end of the funding spectrum, we are also committed to developing patient capital - capital willing to take risk, invest early and invest for the long term - in support of emerging and future industries.
The Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) is central to that effort, investing with the market and drawing private capital into these fields. The Corporation has now invested in more than 200 projects, and for every dollar it commits, more than eight dollars of long term capital follow. Its initial HK$62 billion capital has been substantially deployed and, as I mentioned in the Budget, we will inject further capital into the HKIC at the appropriate time, giving greater momentum to our innovation development.
Behind all these efforts is a simple vision: that a company at any stage of its development can find the right capital partner in Hong Kong. And our proposition is straightforward. We want global investors and innovators to meet each other - right here.
Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to innovation, Hong Kong remains wide open to every investor and every innovator. We welcome you all - from Asia, from the Middle East, from the Americas, from Europe and beyond. It's right here in Hong Kong, where ideas take shape, where capital moves freely, where talent chooses to stay.
And where your next business and investment opportunity awaits.
I wish you all a rewarding Conference, and for those coming from afar, an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong, Asia's world city. Thank you very much.
Ends/Monday, September 7, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:40
Issued at HKT 11:40
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