Hong Kong Development Bureau: Accelerating Investment Promotion in Northern Metropolitan Area, Multiple Measures to Assist Enterprises in Settling and Establishing Themselves

On May 7th, Vincent Ning, the Director of the Hong Kong Development Bureau, replied to questions from legislators that the development of the Northern Metro Area (North Kowloon) is crucial for the social and economic development of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office is responsible for attracting globally high-potential and representative key innovative companies to Hong Kong. Four batches totaling 84 key companies have been announced to establish or expand their businesses in Hong Kong, many of which have expressed interest in settling in North Kowloon. The Invest Hong Kong department is committed to assisting mainland and overseas companies in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong by providing one-stop support services. Last year, they helped over 500 companies establish or expand in Hong Kong, including companies interested in industrial land in North Kowloon. Considering the diverse backgrounds of the companies interested in coming to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office and the Invest Hong Kong department will help them identify suitable operating locations, with North Kowloon being one of the key recommendations. They will also assist companies in need to initially settle in other parts of Hong Kong during the preparatory stage to carry out research and development work and establish a foundation for future entry into North Kowloon. As for the River Trade Hong Kong Park, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park Company Limited is currently working on advancing the relevant leasing work, with the first batch of tenants expected to start moving in the park in the second half of this year, with nearly 30 enterprises in more advanced stages of negotiation. In terms of information dissemination, the Investment Attraction and Development Bureau has set up dedicated webpages and social media platforms as online media to introduce the support services provided by the Investment Attraction Office and promote the advantages of Hong Kong, as well as distribute the latest information on various development projects in North Kowloon. The Invest Hong Kong department also promotes the latest developments of North Kowloon and communicates investment opportunities through its global network. Furthermore, the Development Bureau is preparing to launch a brochure on investment promotion in North Kowloon, presenting the overall planning, advantageous industries, and engineering/tender information from multiple perspectives. Additionally, the proceeds from government green bonds and infrastructure bonds will be allocated to the Capital Works Reserve Fund to support various infrastructure projects, including those in North Kowloon. The Hong Kong government plans to allocate a certain proportion of the proceeds from the issuance of these two types of bonds for compulsory provident fund (Trillions of MPF) investments. Mechanisms have been established by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, and this was first implemented in June 2023 under the government green bond program. Similar mechanisms will continue to apply to institutional bonds issued under the government's sustainable bond program (formerly known as the government's green bond program) and infrastructure bond program to allow members of the Trillions of MPF scheme to participate in promoting infrastructure development, including in North Kowloon, while obtaining low-risk and relatively stable investment returns and sharing the benefits of development.