Hong Kong to set up company this year to fast-track San Tin tech hub as firms eye move

Hong Kong authorities will set up a company this year to accelerate the development of an innovation hub near the border, with firms already expressing interest in moving into the San Tin Technopole, a senior tech official has said.

Permanent Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Kevin Choi Kit-ming also told the South China Morning Post that some companies might soon be able to transfer data and biological samples across the border once tailor-made measures were introduced later this year.

“We hope to establish the company [for the technopole] by the end of this year, with plans to appoint a chief executive officer and form a board of directors in the second and third quarters,” he said, adding that authorities would wholly own the firm.

The chief executive officer, according to Choi, should have a background in innovation and technology (I&T), as well as a basic understanding of property development and commercial operating models.

The new company would also be required to report its progress to the Legislative Council regularly, he said.

To attract more long-term private investment in the technopole, the company could also set up a subsidiary in which the government might provide land as an asset or hold a stake in the firm, according to preliminary ideas being considered by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau.