More drug, semiconductor firms to set up or expand in Hong Kong, OASES head saysTen to 20 more companies are set to establish or expand operations in Hong Kong, including leading drug makers and a semiconductor business, with a roughly equal number of mainland Chinese and overseas firms, the head of a government investment office has said.Peter Yan King-shun, director general of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), a government body under the Financial Secretary’s Office, offered a preview of the developments on Sunday ahead of the announcement of details on Thursday.Yan said the companies included several industry leaders with substantial market valuations. He expected the roughly equal split between mainland and overseas firms to continue, although maintaining the ratio was not an explicit recruitment target.Five of the world’s 10 top pharmaceutical companies have already established a presence in Hong Kong.Yan said the next batch of firms would include more drug makers from that group and they would conduct clinical trials and develop new medicines.“We are not in a rush, because we now have the conditions to give ourselves time to work out clearly what substantive activities they will carry out after establishing themselves in Hong Kong,” he told a radio programme.The office wanted pharmaceutical companies to contribute to the city’s industrial development, rather than simply sell drugs, he added.Successful projects had encouraged competitors to explore opportunities in Hong Kong, with some concerned about falling behind, Yan explained.“When the first, second and third successful cases emerge, others worried about missing out and became more proactive in approaching us,” he said.The office would also step up efforts to attract semiconductor and advanced manufacturing businesses, he added.Yan said a leading global company among the incoming batch had brought suppliers and other related businesses to cities where it had previously invested, and Hong Kong hoped to reap similar benefits.But he also stressed that company size, investment amounts and job creation were not the only considerations in evaluating businesses.He said the office had been in talks with more than 100 companies and would become increasingly selective, as a key consideration was whether a business could help the development of the city’s strategic industries.“More importantly, it is about aligning with our industrial policies, helping develop our industrial ecosystem and accelerating the implementation of those policies,” he said.Strategic enterprises were required to submit five-year plans detailing their proposed investments and job creation numbers, with more specific information required for the first year and the first three years overall.The office also wanted companies to provide concrete details of their first major project in Hong Kong.Asked whether firms should face penalties for failing to deliver results, Yan said there was little need for a separate penalty mechanism, as government funding schemes already required recipients to meet targets or commit their own funds before receiving matching support.“For most strategic enterprises establishing themselves in Hong Kong, government subsidies are not their main incentive,” he said, adding that access to talent, financing and international markets was also a key attraction.Yan said that more than 40 per cent of the over 120 strategic enterprises already established in Hong Kong had premises in traditional commercial districts.The coming Northern Metropolis development, including sites in Hung Shui Kiu and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, would give them more options, he noted.Yan said he expected strategic enterprises to take part in future tenders as more sites became available.OASES has attracted 124 companies in six batches so far, with the firms expected to invest HK$73 billion and create about 25,000 jobs over the coming years. Thursday’s announcement will mark the seventh batch.The previous group, unveiled in April, comprised 22 companies, including American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, biotech firm Amgen and mainland ride-hailing platform Didi.https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3371290/more-drug-semiconductor-firms-eyeing-hong-kong-expansion-oases-head-says?pgtype=live (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post