Hong Kong's Innovation Ecosystem: A Gateway for Nordic Tech Firms

Keynote speech by SITI at dinner reception co-hosted by London ETO and Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland

Following is the keynote speech by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at a dinner reception co-hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London and the Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland on May 13 (Helsinki time):

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. It is a great honour to join you here in Helsinki on this beautiful spring evening during my first official visit to the Nordic region.

Finland has long been recognised as a global leader in digitalisation, mobile communications, sustainability, and innovation. Yet, we believe all innovations need gateways — where innovation can scale, capital can flow, and ideas can meet markets. That is where Hong Kong enters the story.

Innovation and technology (I&T) has always been on the top agenda of the Hong Kong SAR Government. In 2022, we promulgated the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint — a strategic roadmap to develop Hong Kong into an international I&T Centre. Guided by this Blueprint, we are building a comprehensive I&T ecosystem anchored by three major I&T Parks and five key R&D (research and development) institutions, with strategic focus on life and health technologies, AI and robotics, as well as advanced manufacturing and new energy. This framework ensures that every stage of the innovation, from basic research to commercialisation to market, is well taken care of in terms of space, funding and policy support.

Our determination is reflected in our robust I&T investment, including three HK$10-billion landmark funding initiatives, approximately a combined investment of 3.25 billion euros. These schemes include the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme which drives the transformation of R&D outcome into real application and commercialisation, and the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme that supports the set up of smart production lines in Hong Kong, as well as the I&T Industry-Oriented Fund – a funds-of-funds to be launched this year to channel market capital to invest in emerging and future industries of strategic importance.

Besides, we have committed an additional HK$10 billion each to accelerate the development of two of our most strategic I&T innovation zones, namely the Hetao Hong Kong Park (the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone) and the San Tin Technopole.

Uniquely situated along the Shenzhen River, the Hetao Hong Kong Park leverages Hong Kong's unique advantages under "one country, two systems" and Shenzhen's comprehensive manufacturing ecosystem. As a natural extension of the Hetao Hong Kong Park, San Tin Technopole offers R&D, prototyping and production in one integrated corridor. Together, they form a complete research-to-market chain. For Finnish tech firms seeking to enter Asia, the Hetao Hong Kong Park and San Tin Technopole offer unlimited synergy. They are not merely I&T parks, but launchpads for global success, linking you up with the ease and advantages of doing business in Hong Kong, as well as the vast market of the Chinese Mainland.

As with all other places around the world, AI has become the strategic engine of the next stage of development of Hong Kong. We see AI not only as a practical force that can enhance productivity and transform industries, but also a tool to improve daily life and enhance living quality of every walks of life. To this end, the Government has launched over a hundred of digital government and smart city initiatives, with half of these initiatives involving the application of big data analytics and AI technology.

Hong Kong is home to five world's top 100 universities, including three of the world's top 30 in Data Science and AI by subject. Our flagship R&D initiative, InnoHK, has brought together more than 30 world-renowned universities and institutes from 12 economies. Among the 38 R&D laboratories, 16 of them focuses on AI and robotics technologies. One of these, the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center, had successfully launched a series of generative AI applications built on our own developed large language model. With the new AI Research and Development Institute to be operated soon, we are confident that AI development in Hong Kong will accelerate further.

We are also building the digital infrastructure for the future. The Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster will deliver 180,000 PFLOPS (peta-floating point operations per second) of computing power by 2032 — 36 times today's capacity — to meet the fast-growing demands of the AI industry and develop Hong Kong into an international data hub.

We are happy to see that our I&T strategy is delivering visible result. Hong Kong I&T ecosystem is thriving. Notably, 20 unicorns have been born in Hong Kong. The number of startups has surged by 40 per cent since 2021, reaching 5 200 in 2025. We ranked 4th in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2025, and first in Asia and fourth globally in the World Talent Ranking 2025. Meanwhile, together with Shenzhen and Guangzhou, we formed the world's number one innovation cluster, powering a market of over 87 million in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

As a "super connector" and "super value-adder", Hong Kong offers an open and globally connected economy supported by world-class research capability and infrastructure, a deep pool of international talents, a bilingual working culture, low and simple tax and robust IP protection. Hong Kong is within a five-hour flight of most major cities and markets in Asia, reaching half of the world's population. All these provide fertile ground for overseas companies and people to grow, develop and succeed in Hong Kong.

We already see this synergy in action. Over the past few years, we have facilitated more than 600 leading I&T or high potential enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong, including half of the global top 10 pharmaceutical companies and some IT giants. We sincerely welcome more tech companies and talents from Finland, and the wider Nordic region, to connect with Hong Kong, for business, for investment, and for global I&T collaboration.

Nordic calmness and Hong Kong dynamism may seem different, but together we form a powerful combination. I warmly invite all of you to visit Hong Kong, experience our I&T ecosystem, and explore the possibilities that await. Let us build new bridges between the two economies and shape a sustainable and innovative future. Thank you, and I wish you all a wonderful evening.

Keynote speech by SITI at dinner reception co-hosted by London ETO and Finland-Hong Kong Business Association in Helsinki, Finland Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by SITI at forum organised by Healthtech Finland and Finland Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki, Finland

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at a forum organised by the Healthtech Finland and the Finland Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki, Finland on May 13 (Helsinki time):

Marko (Minister Counsellor, Trade and Business Promotion, Embassy of Finland, Beijing, Mr Marko Tiesmäki), Timo (Consul-General of Finland to Hong Kong, Mr Timo Kantola), Saara (CEO of Healthtech Finland, Ms Saara Hassinen), ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure to meet you here in Helsinki and engage with the HealthTech Finland.

Finland has long been recognised for its excellence in digital health, medical engineering, and human-centric innovation. These strengths make Finland an ideal partner for Hong Kong as we are accelerating the development of our innovation and technology (I&T) ecosystem, particularly in life and health technology, which has been identified as a strategic priority under the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint. Today, I would like to share how Hong Kong is advancing this sector, and why this opens meaningful opportunities for collaboration between our two economies.

Hong Kong's progress in life and health technology begins with our strong foundation in research excellence and clinical capability. Our city is now home to five universities ranked among the global top 100, including two of the world's top 40 medical schools. This academic strength is complemented by a healthcare system internationally recognised for its quality, safety, and efficiency. Our clinical research environment is trusted for its rigour and adherence to international standards — an essential asset for translating scientific discoveries into real-world medical applications.

Building on this foundation, Hong Kong has established a flagship R&D (research and development) platform called the InnoHK Research Clusters. InnoHK brings together more than 30 world-renowned universities and research institutes from 12 economies to conduct cutting-edge research in Hong Kong, pooling together more than 3 000 research talents from all over the world. A total of 38 research centres have been established recently, with 16 dedicated to health technologies. Their research spans precision medicine, AI-assisted diagnostics, regenerative medicine, neurodegenerative disease research, infectious disease modelling, biomedical robotics, and advanced therapeutics. These laboratories have already produced high-impact scientific publications and developed start-ups or created commercial spin-offs. This demonstrates Hong Kong's ability not only to conduct world-class research, but also to convert it into solutions that benefit patients and society.

To ensure that innovation can move efficiently from lab to market, Hong Kong is rapidly expanding its I&T infrastructure. The Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone (Hong Kong Park) is a major cross-border innovation hub located at the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It enables the seamless cross-boundary flow of talent, capital, data and critical materials like biological samples. This unique advantage has attracted more than 80 I&T enterprises so far to establish a presence there since the Park's official opening in December last year.

To further accelerate the development, the Hong Kong SAR Government is establishing the Life and Health Technology Research Institute. Using a "One plus Three" model, the Institute's headquarters focused on "AI+ life sciences/ medicine" will be set up at the Hong Kong Park, while three branches led by local universities will each specialise in their own strengths, such as medical diagnosis, advance treatments, elderly neurodegenerative diseases. This cluster will create one of the most important health-tech ecosystems in Asia by linking up Hong Kong's research strengths and the plenty of application scenarios and market of the Chinese Mainland, in particular the Greater Bay Area which has a population of 87 million and a GDP of RMB 15 trillion, that is approximately 1.87 trillion euros.

As a natural extension of the Hong Kong Park, we are building the San Tin Technopole to provide the industrial capacity needed for biomedical engineering, medical-device manufacturing, and AI-driven health solutions. This will serve as a comprehensive platform that supports the entire innovation journey — from basic research to commercialisation, to large-scale production, and ultimately to market and customers.

The Hong Kong SAR Government is making unprecedented investments in life and health technology. To attract international top-notch talent, we launched a HK$3 billion (EUR326 million) Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme to accelerate breakthrough research. Matching funds are provided to universities to attract leading overseas talents to Hong Kong. A new HK$10 billion (EUR 1.1 billion) I&T Industry-Oriented Fund will channel market capital into strategic industries, including life and health technology. These initiatives complement two other HK$10 billion schemes — one is the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme to commercialise university research outcomes, another is the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme to support new industrialisation and smart manufacturing in strategic sectors. Together, they demonstrate Hong Kong's long term commitment to building a globally competitive health-tech ecosystem.

With strong research capabilities, robust clinical excellence, significant government investment, unparalleled access to the Greater Bay Area and a highly reliable environment in data governance, clinical standards and the integrity of research, we are building Hong Kong as one of Asia's most dynamic healthtech ecosystems. By combining Finnish innovation with Hong Kong's strengths, together we can develop next-generation medical technologies, accelerate clinical trials, and bring impactful solutions to patients around the world. We deeply value the expertise and creativity of Finnish and Nordic enterprises and talents, and we warmly welcome you to explore Hong Kong as your trusted base for research, commercialisation, and expansion into the Asian market. I look forward to the collaborations that will grow from today's dialogue. Thank you.

Speech by SITI at forum organised by Healthtech Finland and Finland Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki, Finland Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases