COMMERCE, TRADE STRATEGY HIGHLIGHTED

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau today briefed the Trade & Industry Advisory Board on initiatives related to commerce and trade in the 2022 Policy Address.

      

Mr Yau said the external economic environment in 2022 is still austere. In addition to the fallout from the COVID-19 epidemic, the costs of doing business and borrowing have increased while the investment and consumption sentiment has weakened in face of high inflation and rising interest rates.

Coupled with heightened geopolitical tensions, Hong Kong as an open economy will inevitably be affected, he added.

      

The commerce chief said the city must continue to make the best endeavours to create a strong impetus for growth and more room for development, leveraging the strengths of having the motherland's support.

He noted that the Policy Address has proposed a number of proactive and aggressive initiatives to compete for talent and enterprises to strengthen the competitiveness of Hong Kong and explore more opportunities.

      

The work of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises and the Advisory Committee on Attracting Strategic Enterprises will be taken forward, while the functions of the overseas Economic & Trade Offices will be expanded by setting up dedicated teams to proactively reach out to target enterprises and talent.

      

As regards the support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise under the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading & Domestic Sales will be raised from $6 million to $7 million.

Mr Yau pointed out that the cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise under the SME Export Marketing Fund will be raised from $0.8 million to $1 million while the special measure to expand its funding scope will be extended to June 2026 to continue to cover exhibitions and online exhibitions targeting the local market. Furthermore, the eligibility criteria will be relaxed to cover non-SMEs.

To ease the repayment pressure of SMEs, the application period of the principal moratorium under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme will be extended for six months to end-June 2023, with the maximum duration up to 42 months.

      

The Convention & Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme will also be extended to end-June 2023, and a new $1.4 billion scheme will be launched in July 2023 to subsidise more than 200 recurrent exhibitions in Hong Kong over three years.

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