A Supportive Government

Hong Kong will capitalise on the opportunities arising from the national Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development proactively and holistically. The government shall play the role of a “facilitator” and “promoter”.

Key initiatives announced in the 2025-26 Budget include:

Innovation and Technology

• HK$1 billion to establish the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute
• Host inaugural International Conference on Embodied AI Robot and International Young Scientist Forum on Artificial Intelligence
• Study streamlining vetting of licence applications for operating Low Earth Orbit satellites
• HKEX to launch dedicated “TECH” channel to help prepare for listing applications
• Host World Intellectual Property Organisation’s publication event of the top 100 science and technology clusters in 2025
• Low-altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox: announcing results soon; consider dedicated legislation for various types of Advanced Air Mobility

Finance

• Improve vetting process and optimise thresholds for listing
• Enhance the “board lot” system and issuance mechanism for structured products and increase position limits for key index derivatives
• Formulate proposals on enhancing preferential tax regimes for funds and single family offices
• Host the Hong Kong Global Financial and Industry Summit and a flagship forum on fixed income and currencies
• Extend pilot grant scheme on insurance-linked securities for 3 years
• Implement linkage of faster payment systems with Mainland China 

Shipping and Aviation

• Propose provision of half-rate tax concessions to eligible commodity traders
• Establish the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Development Board
• HK$210 million to install the port community system for smart port development
• Aviation Academy to expand training programmes to cover C919 aircraft-related subjects
• Promote Hong Kong’s development into Asia’s first aircraft dismantling, parts recycling, processing and trading centre 

Cultural and Creative Industries & Tourism 

• Organise the second edition of the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo in 2026
• Allocate HK$1.23 billion to Hong Kong Tourism Board to pursue “tourism is everywhere” concept and implement Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0
• Host Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit in April 2025
• Strategically attract sports events that can bring significant economic benefits in Hong Kong

Education and Talent 

• Launch a new round of Research Matching Grant Scheme, totalling HK$1.5 billion
• Increase annual quota of Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme to 400 places
• Enhance the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme

Green Development

• HK$300 million subsidy scheme to support installing electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers
• Provide tax exemptions for green methanol used for bunkering

Northern Metropolis

• HK$3.7 billion to expedite Phase 1 facilities of Hong Kong Park of Hetao Co-operation Zone
• Start tendering work for large-scale land disposal
• Complete re-zoning procedures for data facility cluster at Sandy Ridge
• Take forward planning and design of various railway development projects

Small and Medium Enterprises

• Inject HK$1.5 billion into the BUD Fund and the Export Marketing and Trade and Industrial Organisation Support Fund, and streamline application arrangements
• SME Financing Guarantee Scheme: principal moratorium application period to last until November 2025
• Funds dedicated for SME financing by participating banks of the Taskforce on SME Lending exceed HK$390 billion

Key economic initiatives announced in the 2024 Policy Address include:

Consolidate and enhance our advantages

International Financial Centre

• Develop an international gold trading market and world-class gold storage facilities
• Implement an array of measures to attract new capital and products to the stock market, including more Renminbi (RMB)-denominated products and refining the regulatory regime to boost efficiency
• Better utilise the currency swap agreement with our country to enhance offshore RMB liquidity
• Enhance the New Capital Investment Entrance Scheme by allowing the purchase of high-end residential properties
• Actively explore the suitable expansion of the Bond Connect (Southbound Trading) to deepen mutual market access
• Enhance development of the insurance sector, in particular non-life insurance businesses, and attract large enterprises to establish captive insurers in Hong Kong

International Shipping Centre

• Establish the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Development Board to strengthen research capacity and promotional efforts in the Mainland and overseas
• Create a commodity trading ecosystem, introducing tax concessions and encouraging international commodity exchanges to set up accredited warehouses in HK
• Promote development of high-value added maritime services, such as ship broking, financing and leasing, maritime insurance, maritime law and arbitration
• Promulgate the Action Plan on Green Maritime Fuel Bunkering to advance the development of a green maritime centre
• Complete installation of a port community system to facilitate data exchange among stakeholders for further development of the smart port

International Trade Centre

• Build a high value-added supply chain services centre to serve Mainland and overseas enterprises, and facilitate their establishment of offshore trading headquarters in Hong Kong
• Raise the statutory maximum indemnity percentage of the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation to 95%, and encourage the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation to establish presence in HK
• Actively promote the development of a headquarters economy to bring in strategic enterprises from outside Hong Kong; extend the validity period of multiple-entry visas to the Mainland for foreign staff of companies registered in Hong Kong to up to five years
• Reduce the duty rate for liquor to promote liquor trading  and related economic activities

International Aviation Hub

• Fully utilise the capacity of the Three-Runway System to explore new destinations and flights
• Expand the scale of the Airport Cityto build a world-leading new landmark
• Complete the Hong Kong International Airport Dongguan Logistics Park Phase 1, and plan ahead for Phase 2 development to reinforce our advantages in air-cargo industry

Develop New Quality Productive Forces

• Formulate medium to long-term development plan for new industrialisation in Hong Kong, and facilitate the establishment of the Hong Kong New Industrialisation Development Alliance to promote collaboration among the Government, industry, academia, research and investment sectors
• Take forward the third InnoHK research cluster with focuses on advanced manufacturing, materials, energy and sustainable development
• Increase investment for research and Innovation and technology (I&T) industries
  • Set up a HK$10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund to form a fund-of-funds to channel more market capital to invest in specific emerging and future industries of strategic importance
  • Optimise the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund by redeploying HK$1.5 billion to set up joint funds to invest in startups of strategic industries
  • Launch a HK$1.5 billion Research Matching Grant Scheme to support research endeavours
• Allocate HK$180 million to set up the Pilot I&T Accelerator Scheme to attract professional startup service providers from local and outside Hong Kong to set up accelerator bases on a matching basis
• Formulate low-altitude economy development strategies and inter-departmental actions
  • Explore low-altitude flying application scenarios
  • Draw up the relevant regulations
  • Promote interface with the Mainland
  • Study and plan for infrastructure and network
• Promote development of Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub
  • Extend coverage of the “1+” mechanism to all new drugs and take steps to establish the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation towards adoption of “primary evaluation”
  • Develop the Greater Bay Area Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform
  • Establish the Real-World Study and Application Centre to accelerate approval of new drugs in Hong Kong
• Promote digital economy by expediting development of digital trade and establishing a new FinTech innovation ecosystem 

Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Foster Economic Diversification

• Promote diverse development of the arts and culture and creative industries with an international perspective, and release the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development
• The West Kowloon Cultural District to steer the establishment of an industry chain of the arts and culture and creative industries in Hong Kong, and to promote cultural and creative tourism, enhancing its financial sustainability
• Enhance the mechanism of providing direct financial support for athletes and reform the governance of the national sports associations, and continue fostering sports development by promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports, maintaining Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events, enhancing professionalism and developing sports as industry
• The Kai Tak Sports Park to begin operation next year, becoming a sports and mega events landmark
• Publish the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0, developing Hong Kong into a premier tourism destination
• Set up the Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots to strengthen inter-departmental co-ordination and foster community participation in identifying and developing popular tourist hotspots
• Strengthen support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
  • Re-launch the principal moratorium arrangement to allow SMEs to manage cash-flows more flexibly
  • Inject HK$1 billion into the BUD Fund to help enterprises upgrade and transform their businesses
  • Expand the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme to cover tourism and personal service sectors
  • Inject HK$500 million for the launch of the Incentive Scheme for Recurrent Exhibitions 2.0
• Set up the Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy to roll out measures to promote silver consumption, industries, quality assurance, financial and security arrangement and productivity
• Advance the Northern Metropolis development adopting innovative mechanism
  • Adopt a “large-scale land disposal” approach for developers to undertake composite development
  • Establish a Government-led company to formulate development and operation strategies for building a pilot industrial park
• Promulgate the Development Outline for the Hong Kong Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, setting out innovative policies to facilitate mutual access between the two parks

The Government of Hong Kong SAR is also committed to driving local business through a variety of initiatives. For details of government funding schemes, please visit here.