Hong Kong’s investment promotion agency, InvestHK, brought a high-profile delegation to VivaTech in Paris this week, making an aggressive pitch for European tech firms to use the city as a launchpad into Asian markets. The pavilion, under the banner “Hong Kong: Where Innovation Meets Opportunity,” housed 20 local startups and scale-ups, along with government bodies like the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Cyberport, showcasing the territory’s innovation ecosystem and courting European talent and capital.
Against simmering geopolitical headwinds, officials doubled down on Hong Kong’s enduring structural advantages: a transparent common law system, unrestricted capital flows, a low and simple profits tax capped at 8.25% for corporations, and its position as the world’s largest offshore renminbi hub. “For European tech companies looking to expand in Asia, Hong Kong offers an unmatched platform—it’s a gateway to China and ASEAN, with the safety of a familiar business environment,” said Alpha Lau, Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, during a keynote. She noted that more than 9,000 overseas and mainland Chinese firms already operate there, and the government is aggressively targeting more deep-tech.
The VivaTech push came with concrete measures. The Innovation and Technology Fund’s co-investment scheme now matches up to HK$50 million per startup through the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund. The city unveiled details of the Northern Metropolis, a colossal development bordering Shenzhen that will house an innovation and technology corridor on 240 hectares, set to become a magnet for R&D centres and advanced manufacturing. Cyberport presented its “Smart-Space” supercharger program, offering rent subsidies and acceleration for AI, Web3, and fintech startups that set up in Hong Kong.
The European experience on the ground gave the pitch weight. Karim Beguir, CEO of London-based AI startup InstaDeep (acquired by BioNTech in 2023), which opened a Hong Kong office in 2021, said: “The speed at which you can set up, hire, and access public research labs in Hong Kong is phenomenal. We were running pilot projects with the Hospital Authority within months.” French IoT firm Sigfox, which entered via HKSTP, lauded the testbed environment at Science Park for smart city solutions before scaling across Asia.
InvestHK also rolled out a dedicated European startup concierge service, streamlining visa processing, bank account opening, and corporate introductions, particularly targeting green tech, biotech, and advanced materials. A “Fast-Track to Hong Kong” pitch competition drew 60 European applicants; German clean-energy startup Zolar won a market-entry package worth €50,000.
Officials repeatedly stressed business predictability despite lingering concerns over national security legislation. They pointed to venture capital investment in Hong Kong startups hitting US$1.8 billion in 2023, with deeptech deals rising, and the startup population surging 25% in two years to over 4,000, many anchored by research from five top-100 universities. At VivaTech, the city not only recruited individual startups but also forged partnerships: a memorandum of understanding with Paris&Co creates a two-way exchange and joint accelerator programs. The takeaway was unambiguous—amid stiff competition from Singapore and Tokyo, Hong Kong sees itself as Europe’s most trusted bridge to China’s vast tech market.