Invest Hong Kong fosters mutual engagement through successful delegations to Gulf Cooperation Council region
The delegation comprised leaders from prominent financial services and fintech companies, founded locally, in Mainland China or overseas with operations in Hong Kong. They participated in high-level strategic meetings with senior management of local government organisations, chambers of commerce, sovereign wealth funds, private equity partners and tech incubators, facilitated by InvestHK.
The Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Ms Alpha Lau, said, “In today’s evolving global economy, Hong Kong has showcased its irreplaceable strategic value as a ‘super connector’. Our city’s unique advantage lies in its ability to effectively connect the East with the West and the Global South. At InvestHK, we are continuously strengthening our core role in facilitating business connectivity, with a firm commitment to delivering value-added services to Mainland and overseas companies looking to establish themselves in Hong Kong and expand globally. We recognise opportunities in high-potential markets, such as the GCC region, which are actively diversifying their economies through innovations. By partnering with InvestHK, companies can effectively access these competitive markets with the government support.”
Bridging markets and transforming outcomes: turning vision into action
The Global Head of Financial Services, FinTech & Sustainability at InvestHK, Mr King Leung, added, “Our support for the delegation was very results driven, opening essential government-to-government (G2G) and business-to-business doors for them. Leveraging our in-depth understanding of each participating company, we successfully showcased Hong Kong as an efficient platform for connecting high-quality enterprises, earning broad recognition from local governments, businesses, and investors across the GCC region. This growing collaboration and trust are built on aligning the right expertise, the right people, and the right connectors. Together, we are creating meaningful bridges that transform relationships into tangible business outcomes.”
Over the past two years, companies such as EvidentGroup, LianLian Global, Lingfeng Capital, OneDegree, 4Paradigm, Libertify and more participated in the delegations. Delegates acknowledged that remarkable results would not have been possible without opportunities and connections provided by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government.
For Evident Group, a highlight was an MOU signing with Zand Bank, the UAE’s AI-powered bank, licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, which Evident first connected with during last year’s delegation visit. The MOU signifies a commitment to develop a strategic collaboration, aimed at delivering innovative alternative investment solutions for Zand Bank’s private wealth clients. The goal is to leverage Evident’s secure, cutting-edge digital market infrastructure to facilitate access to alternative investments such as private equity secondaries, private credit, and tokenised infrastructure. This collaboration pioneers a new model, demonstrating how the digitalisation of private markets enhances Hong Kong’s role in linking global private wealth with unique investment opportunities.
LianLian Global regards Hong Kong as a key hub for expanding its global ecosystem, particularly in the GCC region. Through InvestHK delegations, it forged key G2G ties, most notably with the Central Bank of the UAE, unlocking strategic opportunities in the region. At the Dubai FinTech Summit, LianLian reached a cooperation agreement with Lulu Money to extend its payment gateway services into Mainland China. Leveraging Hong Kong as a fund hub, it also addressed cross-border trade challenges between China and the Middle East and North Africa region. In one case, LianLian facilitated a procurement and payment solution for a company purchasing electric vehicles from China, streamlining transactions for both buyer and manufacturer.
Lingfeng Capital has obtained its approved-in-principle from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority as a licensed fund manager in the UAE and established operations in Abu Dhabi as its regional headquarters after identifying opportunities during the first delegation visit last year. This year, Lingfeng Capital is further engaging with key partners and initiating the setup of a fund in Abu Dhabi to support portfolio companies from Hong Kong, Mainland and other international markets expanding into the GCC region.
OneDegree has been recognised by GCC government officials for its industry-leading digital asset insurance offerings. Following an investment from Dubai Insurance, OneDegree is set to provide digital asset insurance in the UAE, having received approval from the Central Bank of the UAE through partnership with Dubai Insurance Co. In addition, Walaa is supplying reinsurance capital for OneDegree’s global digital asset book. A pivotal milestone was a private meeting with senior management of the Insurance Authority of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the delegation visit last year.
Connecting the East with the West and the Global South
The 2025 delegation led by InvestHK built on the solid foundation laid by the HKSAR Government officials during earlier trip to focus on driving tangible business results, further solidifying Hong Kong’s position as an outward-facing, globally connected economy. The success of these delegations reaffirms Hong Kong’s position as a “super connector” and “super value-adder” to the world, where innovation and strategic dialogue forge robust pathways for two-way economic growth. With tangible results achieved across sectors, InvestHK continues to empower enterprises to “go global” through Hong Kong. Looking ahead, these achievements will lay the foundation for transformative regional collaborations that will benefit Hong Kong and contribute to national policies supporting global trade and investment, further deepening international exchanges and co-operation.
Issued at HKT 18:45
NNNN
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
DH organises workshop for new drug applications under “1+” mechanism
Meanwhile, the Government will expedite the reform of the approval mechanism for drugs and medical devices, including announcing the timetable for establishing the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation and a roadmap towards “primary evaluation” very soon, aiming to spur the growth of new industries in pharmaceutical and medical device research and development and testing.
Issued at HKT 19:05
NNNN
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Fourth-term Human Resources Planning Commission convenes second meeting (with photo)
In addition, the Security Bureau also briefed members on the measures to facilitate the southbound and northbound two-way flow of Mainland and Hong Kong high-end talent, which include exit endorsements for talent and business visits to enable Mainland residents to travel to Hong Kong, as well as multiple-entry visas and the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (non-Chinese Citizens) to benefit non-Chinese Hong Kong residents travelling to the Mainland. Members were pleased to note that these measures would enhance the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA)’s strategic planning on the mobility of talent and expedite the development of a talent hub in the GBA, fully reflecting Hong Kong’s distinctive advantages of being closely connected to the world with the strong support of the motherland under the “one country, two systems” framework.
Members were also briefed by the Labour and Welfare Bureau on the arrangements for admission of professionals of specified skilled trades to Hong Kong. The new arrangements, formulated under the CETT’s steer, allows young and experienced non-degree professionals to apply for entry into Hong Kong under the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals to join eight skilled trades facing acute manpower shortages. Applicants are required to be non-degree professionals meeting the relevant qualifications as specified in the Technical Professional List, and be aged between 18 and 40. The new channel will accept applications starting June 30 for a period of three years, with an overall quota of 10 000, with the quota for each skilled trade limited to 3 000. Members welcomed the new arrangements, and anticipated that this measure would effectively address the shortage of mid-level technical professionals and inject new impetus into the relevant trades.
Issued at HKT 19:05
NNNN
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) Hong Kong Breast Milk Bank (HKBMB) held its opening ceremony today (June 16), marking a milestone in neonatal care and demonstrating the joint commitment of the Government, the HA and the community to protect the most vulnerable lives and give them a healthy start in life.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
CHP investigates cluster of Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae
The CHP will continue to put the RCHE under medical surveillance and investigate the cluster.
Enterobacteriaceae (for example, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella) are common pathogens that can cause infections at different body sites including urinary tract infections, intra-abdominal infections or bacteraemia. CPE are enterobacteriaceae that produce carbapenemase – an enzyme that can deactivate carbapenems and other beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins. These bacteria are commonly resistant to multiple antibiotics, limiting therapeutic options, and may render severe clinical infections difficult to treat. The range of diseases associated with CPE varies from asymptomatic carriage to potentially life-threatening or fatal infections. The level of risk depends on which part of the body is affected by the infection and the general health of the patient.Issued at HKT 20:05
NNNN
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau met Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Changchun Committee Chairman Gao Zhiguo today for in-depth exchanges on the development of biomedicine and Chinese medicine (CM) in the two places.
Prof Lo said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is determined to fully utilise the Hong Kong SAR’s institutional advantages of “one country, two systems” and its professional strengths in the healthcare sector to develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub, thereby enabling the innovative medical technologies to go global and attract foreign investment, and promoting new quality productive forces in biomedicine.
The Hong Kong SAR Government will expedite the reform of the approval mechanism for drugs and medical devices and enhance the translation of innovative biomedical research results into clinical applications, such as jointly establishing the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform in concerted efforts by the GBA International Clinical Trial Institute in the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science & Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and the GBA International Clinical Trials Center in the Shenzhen Park to integrate resources and technologies to provide one-stop clinical trial support for medical research institutions.
It will also establish a Real-World Study & Application Centre to open up the extensive and standardised local medical databases to support clinical diagnosis and treatment, new drug development, and public health research, and integrate real-world data generated through the special measure of using Hong Kong-registered drugs and medical devices used in Hong Kong public hospitals in the GBA to accelerate approval for registration of new drugs in Hong Kong, the Mainland, and overseas.
Additionally, it will prepare for the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR) to progress towards the “primary evaluation” approach as well as take forward preparatory work for legislating for the statutory regulation of medical devices to dovetail with the timetable for the establishment of the CMPR.
Regarding CM, the Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into a bridgehead for the internationalisation of CM, and encourages co-operation between schools and research institutions of the two places in various areas such as CM education and research.
Hong Kong’s first CM hospital will commence services in phases starting from the end of this year, which will serve as a key platform for promoting clinical scientific research collaboration in proprietary Chinese medicines development, synergising with the GBA Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform to facilitate the commencement of internationally recognised multicentre clinical trials, thereby further accelerating the translation of CM research findings.