Lam leads growth of technology and innovation in Hong Kong

Belt and Road boost

Raymond Yeung Chi-ho, founder of Riverland Enterprise Co, a digital marketing technology company, is interested in opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Bay Area, by which he hopes to help more overseas companies enter Asia's markets.

Yeung's company is also an incubatee of Cyberport, and he hired his employees via the government's Innovation and Technology Fund. He is planning to apply for one more staff member via the fund, and is hoping the government will introduce funds to help startups hire executive and professional talent to aid expansion. Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said the government should provide more funding and policy support, and also pay attention to internal coordination and reviews of existing policies.

He noted that policies are usually implemented by a combination of government departments and bureaus. Although the chief executive has set up an internal steering committee on innovation and technology to guide cooperation within the government at senior levels, Fong said the existing policies should also embrace the progress of new policies, which will require more horizontal coordination between departments.

He suggested that the government should direct resources to areas where the city has advantages, such as software and information security.

"Resources are not unlimited, so you can't just put money into popular areas and wait for the market to respond," he said.