Tech, AI emerge as growth drivers under First Five-Year Plan

Finance remains the city’s key competitive advantage, UOB said.

Hong Kong is seeking to broaden its growth drivers beyond financial services, experts said, with technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced manufacturing expected to play a larger role under its inaugural Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030.

“The strategic focus is on building innovation-driven growth clusters, including the San Tin Technopole, and Hetao Hong Kong Park,” UOB said in a 22 September report.

Future growth is also increasingly expected to come from life sciences, education, and Greater Bay Area integration.

Still, finance remains the city’s most important competitive advantage, with the government seeking to develop Hong Kong as a key platform for renminbi (RMB) internationalisation and technology finance, the bank added.

The government unveiled Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan on 16 September, alongside Chief Executive John Lee’s 2026 Policy Address.

Under the plan, opportunities in financial services are expected to come from offshore RMB business, wealth and asset management, commodities trading, green finance, technology finance, and cross-border capital markets, UOB said.

CreditSights expects greater issuance and demand in the offshore RMB (CNH) bond market as the city continues to develop its ecosystem.

The research firm said increased capital market activity from additional CNH issuance could also have a “positive spillover effect” on Hong Kong’s property market, particularly the office sector.

Meanwhile, KPMG said the government’s push for wider AI adoption across industries could encourage private-sector investment, whilst public-sector adoption could help raise digital literacy.

It backed efforts to develop the quantum technology ecosystem and accelerate its application in financial services, including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s launch of the Quantum Preparedness Index.

Ivy Cheung, senior partner in Hong Kong SAR and vice chairman of KPMG China, said policies to attract investment and talent could “drive the convergence of technology and real-economy sectors to power high-quality economic growth.”

On financial services, the firm said the government’s proposed pre-approval mechanism for Corporate Treasury Centres could give prospective corporate investors greater certainty about their tax position.

It also called for clearer eligibility requirements for the proposed 5% or half-rate tax concession for regional headquarters established by high-value-added enterprises, including benchmarks covering investment scale and headcount.