Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, announced in a blog post on the 19th that the government's "Enhanced Digital Transformation Support Pilot Program" will be launched within the year.

The initiative aims to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in adopting ready-made artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, striving to empower a wide range of industries with AI technology.

Currently, Hong Kong's AI development strategy has progressed from a piecemeal approach to a systematic planning phase.

The "Digital Transformation Support Pilot Program" is funded by the Digital Policy Office under the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and executed by Hong Kong Cyberport.

It utilizes a one-to-one matching grant model to assist SMEs in the catering, retail, tourism, and personal services sectors in applying ready-made basic digital solutions to accelerate their transformation.

Chan emphasized that as an international hub for innovation and technology, Hong Kong leverages its unique advantages under the "one country, two systems" framework to connect internally and externally.

This positions Hong Kong not only as a base for AI research, development, and commercialization but also as a strategic adaptation hub for mainland Chinese AI companies expanding overseas, helping to align cutting-edge technologies and business models with international standards and applications.

Simultaneously, as an international financial center, Hong Kong can provide the necessary funding support for these explorations and transformations.

He stated that these advantages are further attracting more technology enterprises to gather in Hong Kong.

The government has recently engaged with numerous AI-related companies, many of which have expressed plans to expand their operations in Hong Kong, looking to leverage the city to achieve better international development.