According to a report from Zhitong Finance APP, on October 8, Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of Hong Kong, delivered a speech during the combined debate (second session) on the motion concerning the First Five-Year Plan for Hong Kong and the motion of thanks for the 2026 Policy Address. He stated that regarding artificial intelligence (AI), the Hong Kong government is fully advancing the "AI+" initiative in response to the First Five-Year Plan for Hong Kong.
Among the key measures, the Sha Ling Data Park has commenced construction and is expected to begin initial operations by mid-next year at the earliest. The Hong Kong government will also inject HK$1 billion into the "AI Funding Scheme" to support cutting-edge research and innovation breakthroughs. It will further optimize data center operations and computing power deployment in the direction of "high-efficiency computing power, stable electricity supply, and low-carbon transformation."
In addition, the Digital Policy Office will establish an AI Commissioner to help advance the AI risk governance strategy outlined in the Policy Address and will lead three key tasks. These include selecting pilot departments and requiring bidders for public-facing AI service projects to make AI safety and ethical compliance declarations; promoting organizations to formulate AI application guidelines, certification, and governance frameworks; and jointly issuing AI agent safety management guidelines with the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute.
He continued that in terms of research infrastructure, Hong Kong will consolidate, enhance, and fully leverage the "dual base" advantages of the National Key Laboratories and the InnoHK research platform. On this basis, this year's Policy Address specifically proposed establishing a "Frontier Technology Task Group" to consolidate Hong Kong's position in frontier technology. At the same time, Hong Kong will launch a new round of special aerospace technology project solicitations to support national space missions and accelerate alignment with national key technology strategies.
The First Five-Year Plan for Hong Kong also encourages enterprises to fully play their role as innovation entities and increase research and development investment. In addition to continuing to provide additional funding to technology transfer offices at designated universities and supporting the commercialization of results through the "University Technology Start-up Support Scheme" and the "Industry-University-Research 1+ Plan," Hong Kong is also fully supporting the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation in studying the establishment of a "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Application Scenario Promotion Center" to precisely match application scenario needs with innovative technology solutions.
Sun Dong introduced that the Hong Kong government has been committed to building a new industrialization industry development system with Hong Kong characteristics. The First Five-Year Plan for Hong Kong proposes four major industry development directions, including promoting traditional industries to upgrade and transform through innovation and technology, developing and strengthening emerging industries with strategic value, laying out future industries, and better developing producer services. The Policy Address also effectively responds to work in these directions. Within this year, the "Hong Kong New Industrialization Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan" will be announced, and the results of the first batch of the "New Industrial Elite Enterprise Cultivation Scheme" have just been released.
On the funding front, it is expected that the HK$10 billion "Innovation and Technology Industry Investment Fund" will be officially launched within this year, with an additional HK$1 billion reserved for the "Innovation and Technology Venture Investment Fund" optimization scheme.
Regarding deepening the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Sun Dong stated that Hong Kong will discuss specific action plans with Guangdong Province on advancing new industrialization and will sign a memorandum of cooperation with Shenzhen to achieve "collaborative research and development, coordinated transformation, and shared development," promote the establishment of industry innovation platforms, and build collaborative mechanisms and models for emerging and future industry chains. Hong Kong will also continue to promote the facilitation measures of the "Standard Contract for Cross-Boundary Flow of Personal Information within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Mainland, Hong Kong)" to facilitate cross-border data flows.