HKPC Welcomes 2023-24 Budget Proposals with Enhanced Support for SMEs Fostering High-Quality Development for HK with Innovation and Technology

(Hong Kong, 22 February 2023) The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) welcomes the 2023-24 Budget of the HKSAR Government. HKPC will continue to fully support the Government, and help industry partners and the business community to tap the new opportunities presented by Hong Kong’s economic recovery, and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative. HKPC is committed to supporting Hong Kong to actively align with national development strategies, promoting new industrialisation and accelerating Hong Kong’s transformation into an International Innovation and Technology (I&T) Centre and a smart city as envisioned in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

HKPC is very encouraged by I&T initiatives proposed in the Budget. These initiatives, such as the establishment of life and health technology research institutes, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supercomputing Centre, a Microelectronics Research and Development Institute and the Web3 Hub; and promoting the development of GreenTech, AI and quantum technologies, will significantly enhance Hong Kong’s R&D capabilities, and invigorate the development of the I&T industry. HKPC fully supports these initiatives and will continue to support enterprises address their business pain points by adopting suitable technologies.

The Budget has announced a number of measures to promote new industrialisation in Hong Kong by the development and upgrading of various I&T and industrial infrastructure. HKPC will continue to work with Hong Kong enterprises in embracing new industrialisation by adopting advanced manufacturing technologies, new materials, automation, AI and robotics technologies.

While HKPC is the professional administrator for several government funding schemes, we welcome the Budget’s proposals to inject more resources into a number of the funding schemes, including injection of HK$500 million into the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) and to launch “BUD Easy” to expedite the applications. HK$100 million is also proposed to support SME ReachOut, a dedicated service team under HKPC, to assist SMEs in selecting and applying for government subsidies through their free, one-on-one, advisory services and various activities. Meanwhile, an additional HK$500 million will be injected into the Chinese Medicine Development Fund to support the Chinese medicine industry, while the Government has also reaffirmed its support of the widely received Technology Voucher Programme. HKPC will work in concert with the Government, promote these funding schemes, and enhance the Biz Expands Easy (BEE) one-stop online platform, launched last September, to help enterprises optimise the funding application process and make good use of government subsidies to achieve business growth and carry out upgrade and transformation.

Hon Sunny TAN, Chairman of HKPC, said, “HKPC welcomes the Government to increase subsidies and enhance the support measures for enterprises. As a key member of Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem and an important facilitator of new industrialisation, HKPC will spare no effort to support the measures in the Budget such as promoting digital transformation, fostering the green economy, achieving high-quality development, strengthening strategic industries such as AI, life and health technology, GreenTech, and advanced manufacturing. HKPC will continue to facilitate the pragmatic commercialisation of R&D outcomes for the benefits of all relevant stakeholders in the journey of Hong Kong becoming an International I&T Centre. We will continue to promote new industrialisation and I&T development, support enterprises through advanced technology, FutureSkills training and government funding, and empower Hong Kong to realise high-quality development.”

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