The Speech on the 2026-27 Budget - Part 7

Budget Speech by the Financial Secretary (7)

Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism

181. We will continue promoting the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism to provide better urban living experience for residents and visitors.

Tourism Industry

182. Last year saw an increase of 12 per cent in visitor arrivals, creating business and job opportunities for related sectors. In the coming year, we will allocate $1,660 million to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).

Highlight Hong Kong's Uniqueness to Enhance Tourism Appeal

183. Hong Kong is the Events Capital of Asia. The HKTB will scale up its flagship events and promotion, introducing new elements and extending event duration, and organise more signature festive events to highlight Hong Kong's East-meets-West uniqueness.

184. Building on the success of last year's "Immersive Light Show in Central" featuring spectacular 3D light shows, the HKTB will launch a brand new show with the theme of light festivals across various locations at different times of the year to replace "A Symphony of Lights".

Attract High-end Overnight Visitors

185. The HKTB will draw more overnight visitors by stepping up marketing efforts in source markets with potential, including Mainland cities outside Guangdong, as well as emerging markets such as ASEAN and the Middle East. We will also proactively promote the hosting of a wider range of conferences, exhibitions and incentive travel events in Hong Kong.

186. The number of ship calls to Hong Kong reached 189 last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent. The HKTB will further attract more international cruises to include Hong Kong in their itineraries.

187. We will continue strengthening co-operation with the GBA and other Mainland provinces and municipalities, and exploring with airlines to offer multi-destination flight itineraries, so as to attract more overseas visitors to Hong Kong and the Mainland.

Revitalise Historic Buildings

188. Historic buildings embody the city culture of Hong Kong. We have implemented 24 revitalisation projects, with four having won international awards. We have also provided subsidies for maintenance works of more than 80 private historic buildings. We will earmark an additional funding of $1 billion for the Built Heritage Conservation Fund to continue taking forward the relevant work.

Enhance the Harbourfront

189. Following the opening of the Eastern Section of the East Coast Boardwalk in North Point at the end of last year, the approximately 13-kilometre long harbourfront from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan has now been fully connected. Adhering to the "incremental approach" in enhancing the harbourfront, we plan to conduct a consultation on the construction of a pedestrian walkway at the praya of Kennedy Town in the second quarter of this year. After the phased opening of a waterfront site near Hung Hom Station this quarter, the harbourfront promenades in Kowloon will be extended to about 15 kilometres.

Foster "Urban-rural Integration"

190. To support "tourism is everywhere" and promote "urban-rural integration", we propose allocating $200 million for launching the "NM Urban-rural Integration Fund" as a pilot scheme. The scheme aims to encourage non-governmental organisations and relevant bodies to take forward rural tourism projects and bring economic vitality to rural villages.

Sports Industry

191. Hong Kong athletes have achieved outstanding results on the international stage. Last year, our athletes achieved historic results in the National Games, winning nine gold, two silver and eight bronze medals. We will allocate more resources to proactively promote sports in the community, support elite sports, maintain Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events, enhance professionalism in sports, and develop sports as an industry.

192. We will inject $1.2 billion into the sports portion of the Arts and Sport Development Fund to further promote sports development, including strengthening training for team sports athletes, improving the professional standards of coaches, as well as supporting and exploring more diverse and higher-level sports competitions to be held in Hong Kong. We will continue promoting Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events and developing sports as an industry through the "M" Mark System.

193. We will continue working with Kai Tak Sports Park Limited to proactively attract more major international sports events and activities.

Cultural and Creative Industries

194. We are committed to promoting the development of arts, culture and creative industries. A total of over $9 billion has been injected into the CreateSmart Initiative and the Film Development Fund.

Premium Arts Trading Hub

195. We are proactively developing Hong Kong into a global trading hub for premium arts, and will shortly finalise the details of our collaboration with Art Basel for the coming five years.

196. To strengthen Hong Kong's position as one of the world's top three arts trading centres, we have initiated a study focusing on exploring areas such as financing and talent development. The study is expected to be completed within this year.

Accelerating Green Development

197. To proactively align with the national "dual carbon" targets and green and low-carbon development strategies, we will strive to promote the development of green industries and green transformation of enterprises. Green industries and green transformation require the support of capital, technology and talents, thereby bringing enormous business opportunities to Hong Kong.

Achieving the Dual Carbon Targets

198. We are actively implementing the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050, as we strive to reduce our carbon emissions by half from the 2005 levels before 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2050.

Green Technology

199. Since the establishment of the Green Tech Fund, the Government has injected a total of $400 million into the fund and approved a number of projects, including production and storage of hydrogen fuel and the technology of turning waste into resources, etc. In particular, a university research team has promoted its newly developed industrial wastewater treatment technology to the GBA and the Yangtze River Delta Region, while another is planning to promote a new fuel cell stack technology in collaboration with a hydrogen fuel cell enterprise.

Hydrogen Development

200. Pursuant to the Strategy of Hydrogen Development in Hong Kong, we will formulate hydrogen standard certification. We are consulting the trade on the framework, with a view to establishing a certification system that connects with both the Mainland and the world, building Hong Kong into a demonstration platform for the export of green and low-carbon hydrogen technologies and products.

201. The Government will host the Hydrogen Week in May to foster international exchanges, and organise visits to the Mainland on the development of hydrogen applications for overseas experts.

Green Finance

202. To consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international green finance centre, the Government will continue issuing sustainable bonds, establishing an enabling regulatory environment and strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration, including taking forward the implementation of the Hong Kong Sustainability Disclosure Standards. The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council is consulting the public on the proposed regulatory framework for assurance.

203. The HKMA has been refining the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance to more effectively address the financing needs of relevant projects, thereby expediting low-carbon transition in the region. It will also strive to develop green transition planning guidance for banks within this year.

204. We will support the exploration with the Mainland and international multilateral financial institutions of the establishment of a Hong Kong-based Green Technology Projects Accelerator. The Accelerator will provide incubation, acceleration, and empowerment services for green technology projects in B&R regions, and serve as an innovative demonstration of Hong Kong's green finance-related services. We will also explore facilitating financial institutions to obtain public utility usage data of enterprises with their consent to enhance the efficiency of green financing and risk assessment.

Green City

I·PARK

205. I·PARK 1, Hong Kong's first waste-to-energy facility for treating municipal solid waste (MSW), has gradually commenced operation since the end of last year. Upon full operation, the facility can process 3 000 tonnes of MSW per day and export over 400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to the power grid per year, which is sufficient to power 100 000 households. With the development of the planned I·PARK 2, Hong Kong is progressing steadily towards the target of zero landfill and carbon neutrality.

Waste Reduction and Recycling

206. Starting from the next financial year, the Government will earmark resources for launching a five-year plan to enhance and upgrade recycling infrastructure in three areas: first, expanding the recycling network by gradually transforming GREEN@COMMUNITY into round-the-clock self-service recycling facilities; second, extracting valuable materials from waste and turning them into raw materials for making green products through the use of technology; and third, building a smart recycling network logistics system to enhance its cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

Electric Vehicles

207. We will continue promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs). The first registration tax (FRT) for electric commercial vehicles, electric motorcycles and electric motor tricycles will continue to be waived in full until end-March 2028. Given the maturity of technology, ample supply, more choices of vehicle models and reduced prices, the current FRT concession arrangement for electric private cars will not be extended beyond its expiry at the end of March this year. The Environment and Ecology Bureau will announce the details in due course.

Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fisheries Industries

208. We are sustaining our efforts in taking forward the Blueprint for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fisheries. For the fisheries sector, the modernised marine fish culture farms at Wong Chuk Kok Hoi and Mirs Bay new fish culture zones have commenced operation. R&D of fish fry and development of processing facilities for local fisheries products will continue to be supported by the Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund. For the agriculture sector, we will select an operator in the first half of this year to construct and operate the first multi-storey, environmentally-friendly pig farm in Lo Wu.

(To be continued.)

Budget: Driving High-Quality, Inclusive Growth with Innovation and Finance

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, unveiled today (February 25) his 2026-27 Budget. He noted that this year marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, and the country's sustained high-standard two-way opening-up, coupled with scientific and technological and innovation, has presented Hong Kong with new opportunities. Hong Kong must foster new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions. Leveraging the edge of having close connectivity with the Mainland and the world, and with a large pool of talent, Hong Kong will facilitate enterprises in opening up new markets.

Mr Chan proposed a series of measures to drive innovation and technology development, including establishing the Committee on AI+ and Industry Development Strategy; taking forward the Sandy Ridge data facility cluster project; promoting AI training; and accelerating digital intelligence transformation of the Government. He noted that Hong Kong is pressing ahead with the industrialisation of AI and deepening its integration across various industries, while encouraging wider AI application, thereby achieving the target of adoption and utilisation by all. Moreover, the International Clinical Trial Academy will also be established to help enable the Mainland's biomedicine technology to go global, attract foreign investment, and help develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub.

To facilitate the development of new industrialisation, the Budget has earmarked resources for establishing in Hong Kong the first national manufacturing innovation centre outside the Mainland, and the New Industrialisation Elite Enterprises Nurturing Scheme will be launched. The Government will promote the full integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation through key infrastructure, including the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and San Tin Technopole.

On finance, Hong Kong will proactively align with national development strategies, advance the internationalisation of the Renminbi, and continuously reform the securities market. The Government will legislate this year to enhance tax regimes for family offices and funds, as well as establish licensing regimes for digital asset dealing and custodian service providers. On tourism promotion, to support "tourism is everywhere" and promote "urban-rural integration", the Government will launch the Northern Metropolis Urban-rural Integration Fund as a pilot scheme to encourage the introduction of rural tourism projects.

Regarding land supply, Mr Chan said that specific land sale arrangements will be announced on a quarterly basis after careful consideration of market conditions and other relevant circumstances, for the steady development of the market. In view of the vacancy rate in the non-residential property market, and considering supply and demand, the Government will not put up general commercial sites for sale in the coming year.

On public finances, Mr Chan noted that tax revenue has increased over the past year, as a result of the booming economy and capital market. Coupled with the reinforced fiscal consolidation programme gradually bearing fruit, public finances have improved sooner than expected. In 2025-26, the Operating Account will return to a surplus ahead of schedule, while the Consolidated Account will be broadly balanced after taking into account the net proceeds from bond issuance. The Government will continue to strictly contain the growth of its operating expenditure and take forward the Productivity Enhancement Programme as planned. Moreover, to relieve the economic pressure faced by the people, the Budget proposes increasing the basic allowance, the single parent allowance, the married person's allowance, the child allowance, the allowance for maintaining a dependent parent or grandparent, and the deduction ceiling for elderly residential care expenses starting from the year of assessment 2026/27.

In conclusion, Mr Chan said that the global environment has remained volatile over the past year, and Hong Kong has continued to undergo economic transformation. Technological innovation, in particular the development of AI, has brought a mix of opportunities and challenges. Yet, Hong Kong has always thrived amid changes and progressed through innovation. While transformation is ongoing, the economy has recalibrated its course and is advancing steadily. Hong Kong must make full use of its strengths and leverage the resolute support of the country to speed up and scale up economic development sustainably, creating better development opportunities for the people and enhancing their quality of life.

For more details on the 2026-27 Budget, click here.

Source: AI-found images