In the meeting room of the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (ITIB) at the Hong Kong SAR Government Headquarters, a copy of the recently published First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030) (the "First Five-Year Plan") sits on the table.
Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said in a recent interview that with the implementation of Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, the city's innovation and technology (I&T) sector is moving from isolated breakthroughs toward systemic development, gradually building a complete ecosystem that covers research investment, industrial platforms, talent cultivation, capital empowerment and collaboration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Hong Kong has a solid foundation in basic research, but the commercialization of research outcomes has been relatively weak. Sun Dong noted that the First Five-Year Plan sets a target of raising Hong Kong's gross expenditure on research and development as a share of GDP from 1.63% in 2024 to 3% after 2030, aiming to strengthen technology transfer while maintaining leadership in basic research.
He said the SAR government hopes to encourage enterprises to set up research institutes and R&D centers in Hong Kong, provide supporting land and space, simplify approval procedures, and adopt an outcome-oriented approach to create an I&T environment that attracts corporate investment, relying on three major I&T parks 鈥?the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone and the San Tin Technopole, the Science Park, and Cyberport 鈥?as well as five major research institutions: the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research Institute, the Hong Kong Institute for AI Research, and the Hong Kong Institute for Life and Health Research, to build industrial carriers.
Sun Dong mentioned that Hong Kong's development as an international I&T center has always relied on the Greater Bay Area development as a national strategy. The SAR government is focused on facilitating the cross-border flow of I&T factors such as people, goods, capital and information. Arrangements related to cross-border data flow are expected to be implemented as early as this year; the SAR government is in discussions with relevant national authorities on the cross-border flow of capital and biological samples, hoping to promote upstream and downstream industrial linkages in the Greater Bay Area's I&T sector.
In terms of attracting and nurturing I&T talent, Sun Dong said Hong Kong continues to draw top research talent from around the world through various top talent and scholar introduction schemes and frontier technology research support programs, attracting a group of Nobel Prize-level scholars and academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering to conduct in-depth work in Hong Kong. He believes the core of retaining talent is providing a stage for them to fully display their abilities. The core campus area of the University Town in the Northern Metropolis is not a single cluster of campuses, but a comprehensive district integrating education, technology, industry, talent and livability, truly achieving integrated development of education, technology and talent.
Hong Kong's I&T platform system is becoming increasingly multi-dimensional, and the local talent support system is continuously improving. Long-term university entrepreneurship support and the expansion of R&D teams at leading enterprises are giving Hong Kong's I&T talent "platforms, tracks and prospects."
The development of the I&T industry is inseparable from patient capital. Sun Dong said Hong Kong should improve the "government-industry-academia-research-investment" chain, make good use of the I&T Industry Guidance Fund and the I&T Venture Fund to fill the patient capital urgently needed by early-stage I&T projects, and leverage its financial strengths to develop technology finance, so that financial resources can feed back into the I&T industry.
Looking ahead to the global technology wave over the next five to ten years, he pointed out that the SAR government has established a frontier technology task group to coordinate cross-departmental and industry efforts in assessing trends. The industrial layout is divided into four directions: upgrading traditional industries with technology; strengthening emerging industries such as life and health, artificial intelligence and robotics, advanced manufacturing, and new energy and new materials; positioning future industries such as quantum technology and aerospace technology; and strengthening producer services such as standard-setting and testing and certification, and technology finance.
"Hong Kong is in its best-ever period for I&T development," Sun Dong said. Relying on "One Country, Two Systems," leveraging its international advantages, and providing sound intellectual property protection, Hong Kong will continue to improve its I&T ecosystem, deeply integrate into the country's overall development, and steadily advance the building of an international I&T center.