HKICPA welcomes the Policy Address enhancing Hong Kong’s connectivity with the Mainland and the world to strengthen its competitive advantages
The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) welcomes the diversified initiatives outlined in the Policy Address announced by the Chief Executive today to boost the local economic development. The HKICPA believes that the initiatives for enhancing the capital market, attracting talents and supporting the development of green finance and innovative technologies would enhance Hong Kong’s connectivity with the Mainland China and global markets, reinforcing the competitiveness of Hong Kong economy. The HKICPA is also pleased to note that some of its policy recommendations have been adopted in the Policy Address. These include introducing various measures to support the development of innovation and technology, green finance, and green infrastructure, facilitating digitalization among SMEs, and encouraging Mainland and overseas enterprises to establish regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
HKICPA President Edward Au said, "In the face of a challenging global economic environment, Hong Kong needs to strengthen its cooperation with different economies and continue to serve as a global financial gateway. The HKICPA welcomes the initiatives proposed in the Policy Address to boost the economy and enhance the capital market development, believing that these efforts will help Hong Kong maintain its competitive edges in the new global economic and trade landscape. In particular, we are delighted to see a focus on promoting green and sustainable finance and low-carbon transition, including expanding cooperation in the Greater Bay Area carbon market and strengthening green infrastructure. These initiatives will accelerate the development of green finance ecosystem, driving progress toward Hong Kong’s 2050 carbon neutrality target. The HKICPA will continue to foster the Hong Kong accounting profession's commitment to professionalism, providing high-quality professional services to various industries, and solidifying Hong Kong's status as a leading international financial centre”
The Policy Address proposed several initiatives to enhance Hong Kong's capital market, including encouraging more overseas enterprises to seek secondary listing in Hong Kong, considering enhancements to the listing requirements for companies with weighted voting right structures, exploring to shorten the stock settlement cycle to T+1, strengthening connections with capital markets of the Mainland, Europe and the Middle-east and deepening development of bonds, currency and commodity markets. The HKICPA believes that the above initiatives effectively enhance the resilience and liquidity of Hong Kong's capital market, which in turn attracting more investors and enterprises to raise funds in Hong Kong market. Coupled with the recent trend of robust IPO fundraising activities and active trading in the stock market, Hong Kong’s financial market development would be further deepened.
On the other hand, the HKICPA anticipates that innovation and technology will serve as key drivers of economic growth in Hong Kong and globally. Therefore, the Institute welcomes the Policy Address's initiatives to enhance the development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology industry, including formulating “Packages of preferential policies” to facilitate industry development and investment, facilitating development of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science industries, establishing the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute, establishing the “AI Efficacy Enhancement Team” to strengthen the application of AI among government departments etc. The HKICPA also welcomes the adoption of the Institute's proposal to launch initiatives to complement the existing “Patent Box” regime, which include the launch of an “IP financing sandbox” and promoting intellectual property trading to encourage local innovation and technology activities, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in these aspects. In view of the Government’s policy initiative for further developing HK’s digital asset market, HKICPA, as the standard setter for the accounting profession in Hong Kong, is formulating appropriate guidance for the accounting and auditing of virtual assets and related matters with expected publication in H1 2026.
Regarding talent attraction, the HKICPA believes that the initiatives mentioned in the Policy Address, such as further lifting the enrolment ceilings for the non-local students of Government-funded tertiary institutes and easing restrictions on property asset investment for the "New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme”, along with the "Study in Hong Kong" branding initiative proposed in last year's Policy Address, will help attract high-quality talent to Hong Kong for development. These initiatives also align with the Institute's advocacy for enhancing the "Brand HK" to showcase Hong Kong's diversity and international influence. The HKICPA hopes that the above initiatives will help Hong Kong attract global accounting and financial talents, enable the accounting profession to continue to provide high-quality professional services by strengthening Hong Kong's accounting and professional talent pool.
The HKICPA welcomes the initiatives proposed in the Policy Address to advance green finance development in Hong Kong, including deepening pilot co-operation with the carbon markets in the Greater Bay Area and collaborating with relevant Mainland regulatory departments and authorities to address issues related to the nation's participation in the international carbon market. Coupled with the progressive implementation of sustainability disclosure requirements that are fully aligned with international standards, these initiatives not only enrich investors’ choices but also bring certainty to the capital market, thereby attracting capital inflows into the local market.
We are pleased to see the Policy Address includes a series of initiatives to strengthen green infrastructure, including accelerating market-driven decarbonization of buildings and enhancing the charging network for electric vehicles. Collectively, the series of policies raised in the Policy Address for enhancing development of green finance and green infrastructure, will help Hong Kong achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
As the sustainability reporting standard setter of Hong Kong, the HKICPA will be guided by the Government’s Roadmap on Sustainability Disclosure in Hong Kong to support Hong Kong in implementing the Hong Kong Sustainability Disclosure Standards, build stakeholders’ capacity in sustainability disclosure, thereby supporting Hong Kong to develop into green financial centre.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong needs to strive for enhancing its competitiveness, deepening cooperations with various economies, and responding to external challenges. The HKICPA will continue to be committed to developing the accounting profession in Hong Kong and contributing to Hong Kong's economic development in the long run.
The HKICPA welcomes the Policy Address announced by Chief Executive today, believing that its diversified initiatives will enhance Hong Kong's connectivity with the Mainland and overseas, and maintain the competitiveness of Hong Kong's economy. Also, the HKICPA is pleased to note that the Policy Address adopted certain policy proposals from the Institute.
HKICPA President Edward Au said the Institute welcomes the initiatives proposed in the Policy Address to boost the economy and enhance the capital market development, believing that these will help Hong Kong maintain its competitiveness with the new global economic and trade landscape.
