Hong Kong attracts another 18 strategic firms, HK$10 billion in investment pledged

Nasdaq-listed fintech company Solana and healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson are among the latest batch of enterprises in artificial intelligence, healthtech and advanced manufacturing to establish or expand operations in Hong Kong, bringing in more than HK$10 billion (US$1.28 billion) in investment to the city.

The 18 enterprises signed agreements on Thursday with the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), a government unit under the Financial Secretary’s Office tasked with attracting companies of strategic importance to Hong Kong.

Around half of these enterprises are from mainland China and the other half from elsewhere. They form the seventh batch of enterprises recruited under the initiative.

“We are determined to create the conditions for more impact, by connecting finance, research, talent and industry more effectively,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said.

Chan, who attended the signing ceremony with Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun, said the government also hoped to make it easier for enterprises to scale up their operations as well as products and services.

Including the latest batch, OASES has attracted 142 companies across seven rounds, with the firms expected to invest HK$84 billion and create about 27,000 jobs over the coming years.

Chan said investment from enterprises in the first six rounds had exceeded expectations by 30 per cent and the jobs created by 34 per cent. These companies had also taken up more than 2.8 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.

Peter Yan King-shun, director general of OASES, said the latest 18 enterprises would bring in investment worth more than HK$10 billion and 1,600 jobs.

“These are not trivial jobs. We are talking about really high-end jobs, focusing very much on research and development talents. Many of these jobs will help Hong Kong retain the talents that we have groomed from the universities,” Yan said.

While OASES currently focuses on life and health technology, AI and data science, fintech, advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, and cultural and creative technology, Yan said he would not rule out more industries being covered in the strategic recruitment.

As this year’s budget had tasked OASES with attracting aerospace enterprises, Yan said his office had been looking into it, and had already met leading firms in the sector.

Strategic enterprises must submit five-year plans outlining their proposed investments and the number of jobs they expect to create, along with concrete details of their first major project in Hong Kong.

Fintech company Solana, which provides instant and low-cost global transaction solutions with blockchain technology, is among the latest batch of enterprises.

Chairman and CEO Joseph Chee said Solana chose Hong Kong over Japan and Singapore as its Asia-Pacific headquarters because the city was a global financial centre with the most comprehensive and sophisticated infrastructure. The law and regulations are clear and stable.

He said OASES had provided support in helping the company to find an office, recruit staff and apply for work visas.

“I was very surprised by the kind of support that I had … I am very impressed with all the people, how focused they are, in [helping] technology companies in Hong Kong,” he said.

Chee said the company had committed to bringing in investment of at least HK$200 million to the city over the next five years, subject to the development of Solana blockchain in Hong Kong. The amount included the value brought to Hong Kong by other companies Solana had invested in or incubated.

He said the company would provide its blockchain and help other companies to build things on it, and planned to hire 20 to 30 people in Hong Kong to start with. But it has no plan to issue any stablecoin or digital assets in the city.

Swiss-based gold refiner Valcambi, which operates one of the world’s largest and most efficient integrated precious metals plants in Balerna, Switzerland, plans to set up a joint facility with local steelmaker Shiu Wing Steel in Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun.

The refinery will be the biggest of its kind in Hong Kong. The company has identified a plot of land, pending the process of changing land use to be completed.

Valcambi CEO Simone Darceo Knobloch said Hong Kong would become its first expansion outside Switzerland. It planned to establish a precious metals logistics and financial hub in Hong Kong, supporting the city’s development into a world-class centre for gold refining.

“What will be produced in Hong Kong will be gold bars … That’s how we want to contribute by providing physical gold in the market,” he said.

Other leading enterprises on the list include Rohto Pharmaceutical from Japan, South Korea-based medical AI company Aitrics and Shanghai-based robotics firm Agibot.