The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui Ching-yu, has expressed his belief that the revived investor visa program will help Hong Kong’s real economy during an anticipated economic slowdown.
In an interview, Hui said that the city’s economy is expected to grow from the new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, which requires applicants to invest funds in local technology and innovation projects, VisaGuide.World reports.
According to him, the influx of wealthy persons coming to the city will also increase the demand for professional services and provide job opportunities to local talent. This is in line with the government’s goals of strengthening the financial industry and creating job opportunities for local talent.
In addition, Hui stated that the approved tax relief for family offices in the city is also expected to serve the local economy. In order to qualify for the tax concessions, each single-family office must hire at least two residents and also spend HK$2 million or more on operations.
He said that an integrated fund platform would be introduced by the end of this year. According to him, the platform would bring more diversity to the markets while offering more choices to international asset management firms.
This platform will mainly target retail funds, and if the overseas asset management companies want to offer their products to our retail investors, this will be a very convenient platform for them to access investors.
The Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address is set to be introduced for suspension of payment of ‘Buyer’s Stamp Duty’ as well as ‘New Residential Stamp Duty’ for incoming talent’s acquisition of residential property in Hong Kong. The government will change the law in order to include successful applicants under the new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme in the Suspension Mechanism.
The new CIES would help strengthen the development of the asset and wealth management, financial and related professional service sectors in Hong Kong, and bring more business opportunities and high-quality job prospects to all segments of the industry’s service chain.
In order to attract a larger number of internationals and also attract new investments to Hong Kong, the HKSAR government plans to introduce a new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES) as stressed in the 2023-24 Budget.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury announced the details of the new CIES in a briefing on December 19, 2023, aiming to launch the new CIES and invite applications in mid-2024.