Minister: Strategic Firms Can Help Keep Local Workers

Commerce minister Algernon Yau said on Friday that moves to bring in strategic enterprises from outside Hong Kong would offer more opportunities to talented local employees and help keep them in the workforce.

Yau was commenting on Chief Executive John Lee's proposal in his policy address to set up an Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises with a remit to encourage and help companies in high-potential sectors such as data science, artificial intelligence and financial technology to set up operations in Hong Kong.

"The [SAR government's] overseas offices and those in the mainland will set up a unit to look after how to acquire the companies and talents," Yau said after attending an RTHK programme.

"We're going to set up an advisory committee to provide advice to the Financial Secretary [Paul Chan] regarding what strategic industry or enterprises we're going to target."

Yau said work would be completed by the end of the year so that officials will start attracting firms and talent early next year.

Lee said in his policy blueprint that the SAR would draw up special facilitation measures in areas such as land, tax and financing that are tailored to the target enterprises, while taking steps to help their employees on matters such as visas and education for their children.

Yau told reporters that once the target enterprises came to Hong Kong they would create more job opportunities, and that would be good for the upward social mobility of young people.

The CE's policy blueprint also mentioned expanding large-scale convention and exhibition facilities at AsiaWorld-Expo and the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. He also announced plans for a $1.4 billion funding package to support some 200 exhibitions over three years, starting next year.

Yau said he thinks the local convention industry has its advantages and some international exhibitions had moved elsewhere only temporarily. The commerce chief said he'd heard that many in the sector wanted to return to Hong Kong.