Budget | 10 billion yuan to help life and health research, set up a digital economy committee to promote innovation and technology

[Budget 2022] The new budget will be released today (23rd), and the Financial Secretary Chan Mo-po will announce it in a video. In recent years, the Hong Kong government has invested a lot of money in the development of innovative technologies. Chan announced that he will allocate funds in the future. 10 billion yuan to set up a strategic technology innovation fund to increase innovation and technology opportunities for enterprises with strategic value, of which 5 billion yuan will be used to establish a new investment fund "Strategic Innovation and Technology Fund", which will invite science and technology park companies and digital Hong Kong is looking for technology companies with strategic value to Hong Kong and investment opportunities that can enrich the innovation and technology ecosystem.

In order to further scientific research on life and health, the authorities will allocate another 10 billion yuan to assist in clinical trials, etc., and set up INNO LIFE Tech Hub in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Science and Technology Park of Lok Ma Chau, bringing together the world's top talents in fields such as biomedicine and artificial intelligence, prevention and control. Diagnosis, drug opening, rehabilitation and other fields.

The HA will explore how to use institutional cooperation and R&D to promote diversified cooperation in scientific research and to build Hong Kong into a hub for health R&D.

In addition, the Hong Kong government will support universities to set up start-up teams to further implement scientific research results, increasing to 16 million yuan per university, with a maximum of 1.5 million yuan per year for a maximum of 3 years.

"Future Fund" increases allocation to "Hong Kong Growth Portfolio" by $10 billion

Chen Maobo said that in the past few years, in addition to the 2 billion "Innovation and Technology Venture Fund", the "Technology Enterprise Investment Fund" and the "Cyberport Investment Venture Fund" were established through the Science and Technology Park Corporation and Cyberport respectively. The target is mainly start-up companies at the initial stage, and may not be suitable for some companies with a small scale and are expanding their business.

The authorities announced that part of the funds will be allocated in the "Future Fund" to establish an investment portfolio called "Hong Kong Growth Portfolio" to invest in projects "related to Hong Kong", among which the "Future Fund"'s allocation to the "Hong Kong Growth Portfolio" An increase of 10 billion yuan, of which 5 billion yuan will be used to set up a new investment fund "Strategic Innovation and Technology Fund", which will invite Science and Technology Park companies and Cyberport to identify technology companies of strategic value to Hong Kong, and those that can enrich the innovation and technology ecological investment opportunities.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan.

(Screenshot of the live broadcast of the Legislative Council)

At the same time, the authorities will support universities to set up start-up teams under the Innovation and Technology Fund to further implement scientific research results. The amount of funding for each university will be increased to 16 million yuan.

The authorities will also set up a one-to-one matching of funds, with a maximum of $1.5 million per year for a maximum of three years, involving an additional expenditure of $48 million.

Build Hong Kong into a health R&D center

Chen Maobo also pointed out that the future will focus on life and health research. In 2018, the government has allocated 10 billion to set up inno HK innovation laboratories, and 16 laboratories are related to life and health.

In order to further promote related scientific research work, another 10 billion yuan will be allocated to assist in clinical trials, etc., and the INNO LIFE Tech Hub innovative scientific research center will be set up in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Science and Technology Park of Lok Ma Chau, bringing together the world's top, biomedicine, artificial intelligence and other fields, preventive diagnosis , drug liberalization, rehabilitation and other fields, the HA will explore how to use institutional cooperation and research and development to promote multi-disciplinary cooperation in scientific research, and build Hong Kong into a center for health research and development.

Establishing a Digital Economy Committee to help elites and government officials continue to promote I&T development

Chen Xu said that innovation and technology and the "digital economy" are the core competitiveness. The innovation and technology industry can improve other industries. Both old and new industries need innovation and technology leadership. To move towards high-quality development and digitalization, it is necessary to collect various economic figures, which can help To better understand the overall economy, improve efficiency and promote innovation, in order to accelerate digitalization, the Hong Kong government will set up a "Digital Economy Committee" to assist elites and government officials to continuously promote the development of innovation and technology, promote re-industrialization, and enhance competitiveness. A total of 130 billion yuan has been invested .

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