Speech by SCED at Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival 2025
Following is the speech bythe Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, at the Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival 2025 today (November 4):
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. Welcome to day two of the Hong Kong FinTech Week and StartmeupHK Festival this year. It is my great honour to meet you all here today.
The StartmeupHK is an initiative launched in 2015 that assists start-ups from outside Hong Kong in setting up or expanding here. Under this initiative, Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) has been nurturing our local start-up ecosystem by connecting stakeholders and cultivating a start-up-friendly business environment. The most notable part of the initiative is the annual flagship event StartmeupHK Festival today.
Time really flies, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the StartmeupHK Festival, which has become an international brand of Hong Kong for start-ups. This year, we have taken an innovative step to amplify the momentum of this Festival by uniting the StartmeupHK Festival with another flagship event, namely, FinTech Week, on one single integrated platform. It is not just about celebrating the 10th anniversary of InvestHK's efforts in hosting mega events, but also for better demonstration of the convergence of fintech and frontier technologies like AI, healthtech and Web3. It creates more cross-sectoral opportunities for start-ups to connect with industry leaders and investors from all over the world in one single event.
For more established companies and corporates, you will see the latest cutting-edge technologies and key discussions on important tech issues, and could network directly with some of the brightest start-ups from around the world to explore collaboration and business development.
Hong Kong, being an ideal gateway connecting East and West, is renowned for its world-class infrastructure, a robust common law legal framework, a dynamic financial ecosystem, etc. Ranked as the world's freest economy, Hong Kong offers a transparent, efficient and accessible business environment - pillars that have sustained Hong Kong's long-term success. These distinctive advantages are attributed to our unique "one country, two systems", as we enjoy the strong support from the Chinese Mainland while staying open and connected to global markets. This has guaranteed that our city is the only one on Earth that carries both the global and China advantages. Looking ahead, the new eighth-term Legislative Council, which will be returned by the election to be held on December 7, would be a further testimony of the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems" as well as the good governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This would further enhance Hong Kong's position as an international trade centre.
Thanks to these unparalleled strengths, Hong Kong has attracted numerous companies from the world to establish a presence here. According to the latest survey, Hong Kong is home to a record high of around 10 000 non-local companies, including about 1 400 regional headquarters, many of which are tech firms and start-ups.
Zooming in on our start-up ecosystem today, Hong Kong is not only a hub for financial innovation, but also a launch pad for breakthroughs of all innovation sectors, covering edutech, e-commerce, logistics technology, robotics, data analytics, greentech, etc. The city's entrepreneurial spirit, global connectivity and cross-border synergies make it a fertile ground for innovative ideas to grow and industries to transform.
Our commitment to promoting innovation and technology is more than words, as it is clearly reflected in measurable growth of the local start-up ecosystem. The number of start-ups in Hong Kong has nearly tripled, from about 1 600 start-ups before the launch of the StartmeupHK initiative 10 years ago to around 4 700 last year, a record high with a year-on-year increase by 10 per cent. Besides, the start-up founder base is highly international, with nearly 30 per cent being non-local founders from origins like the Chinese Mainland, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Australia, etc.
Hong Kong's fintech ecosystem also stands out globally, ranking top for fintech offerings according to the 2025 Global Financial Centres Index, reflecting its leading role in innovation, strong regulatory framework and vibrant market with over 1 200 fintech companies driving cutting-edge solutions across wealthtech, blockchain, digital assets and payments.
The impressive international ranking reflects that the Government is on the right track in supporting start-ups.
As reflected in the Chief Executive's latest Policy Address, the Government continues to enhance Hong Kong's business-friendly environment for nurturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups. For example, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau has introduced the Economic and Trade Express through synergising the efforts of our overseas offices with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and InvestHK to support local SMEs and start-ups to explore business opportunities in overseas markets.
To deepen Hong Kong's international exchanges and co-operation amid the shifting geopolitical situation, we will expand the network and coverage of our overseas economic and trade offices (ETOs) to cover Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The new ETO is expected to commence operation by end of this year.
To better support Mainland enterprises planning to set up overseas businesses by leveraging Hong Kong's professional services, we have just launched the brand new cross-bureau and cross-sectoral Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global last month to provide them with one-stop customised services.
On intellectual property (IP), we will assist innovative companies in leveraging IPs for financing to enhance the IP trade ecosystem. This includes launching an IP financing sandbox pilot project, providing patent evaluation for companies, etc.
Apart from the above new initiatives, there are also other supportive measures in place, such as the enhanced Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Agreement, the new company re-domiciliation regime, various SME funding schemes, as well as tax concessions.
Hong Kong is a highly stable and predictable economy for your investment during times of global economic uncertainties. More importantly, our long history of entrepreneurial spirit creates the perfect environment for bold ideas to take flight.
As we gather this week, I encourage you to seize the valuable opportunities in our unified innovation platform, explore the diverse fora, engage in InvestHK's Global Fast Track programme for start-ups and connect with international business delegations. I am sure that our start-up friends from different sectors today would all find Hong Kong an ideal destination for business expansion.
If you are interested in Hong Kong's business opportunities, InvestHK, our investment promotion agency, will provide you with one-on-one customised support to help you set up or expand your businesses here. From planning through implementation, my colleagues at InvestHK are always ready to assist.
Ten years ago, we embarked a bold journey to build, connect and scale an innovation economy by launching the StartmeupHK Festival and FinTech Week. Looking forward, please continue to join hands with InvestHK to accelerate innovation by turning ideas into pilots, and pilots into scalable production in our vibrant city.
Thank you.
