Hong Kong is building a capital ecosystem that works for start-ups and serves innovation, as the special administrative region welcomes more investors and innovators from around the world, said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Monday.

Speaking at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks’ inaugural Co-Development and Investment Conference, Chan emphasized that innovation and technology have become the most powerful engines of the global economy.

He highlighted that artificial intelligence is advancing at extraordinary speed, triggering a wave of capital spending on computing power, equipment and infrastructure, while opening up practical applications in almost every field.

“And we see it vividly here in Hong Kong – in the strong growth of our electronics and semiconductor exports, and in our capital market's appetite for AI-related listings,” he said.

Chan stressed that opportunities of this magnitude call for two crucial elements: innovation capable of translating scientific discovery into commercial application, and a capital chain deep enough to take innovation to the global market.

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For global investors facing geopolitical uncertainties, the requirement is finding stability and security on the one hand, and attractive returns on the other. For innovators and entrepreneurs, capital alone is not enough – they require an industrial ecosystem, a steady supply of talent and access to the full range of innovation resources, according to Chan.

As an international financial center, a magnet for global talent and a home to fast-rising innovation, Hong Kong is a natural complement to the sister cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which possess formidable strengths in advanced manufacturing, commercialization and scaling, the financial secretary noted.

He also referenced the World Intellectual Property Organization’s rankings, which recognize the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster as the world's leading innovation hub.

Citing the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd’s data, Chan said the technology sector's share of turnover in Hong Kong’s market has increased over the past decade from 15 percent to 47 percent, and the turnover itself has grown more than eightfold.

“That's the result of sustained reform, carried out hand in hand with the market, to make it easier for technology companies to list here,” he said.

Chan highlighted Hong Kong’s vision to enable a company at any stage of its development to find the right capital partner, while allowing global investors and innovators to meet each other in the city.

“We welcome you all - from Asia, from the Middle East, from the Americas, from Europe and beyond,” he concluded. “It's right here in Hong Kong, where ideas take shape, where capital moves freely, where talent chooses to stay.”