Paul Chan vows to help 1.8m firms shift to new platform
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has vowed to help 1.8 million companies make payments or use government services on a new platform as part of efforts to accelerate the development of the digital economy.
Chan yesterday said businesses in the city increasingly had urgent needs to improve their digital operations and management amid fierce competition.
“[We have to] enhance digital infrastructure. This includes strengthening the use and coverage of 5G networks, encouraging the development of high-performance computing and data centres, further promoting electronic payments and introducing enterprise digital identities or ‘Corp IDs’,” Chan said in his weekly blog.
The introduction of enterprise digital identities refers to the use of a company-specific version of the government-developed iAM Smart platform, which is expected to launch in 2026.
The existing iAM Smart platform allows residents to use a single digital identity and authentication to make government and commercial transactions online. It also automatically fills in personal details on electronic forms and handles statutory documents and procedures.
Chan further elaborated on the HK$300 million measure to roll out the enterprise version, as highlighted in his February budget blueprint, which aimed to streamline processes and eliminate unnecessary complexities for companies.
“It will provide four key functional services to 1.8 million Hong Kong companies, including enterprise identity authentication, digital signing, authorised access to pre-filled forms using data from electronic service systems and storage of electronic credentials,” he said.
“The platform will also integrate with various government departments’ electronic services to enhance service efficiency. It will support the operation of the Hong Kong Monetary Authorityrun Commercial Data Interchange to facilitate financial institutions in conducting due diligence on their customers.”
In terms of promoting local and cross-border data flow, the Commercial Data Interchange will extend its coverage to allow more businesses to easily obtain loans by consenting to share data with partnering banks.
The initiative helped to facilitate more than 13,000 loan applications worth about HK$12 billion by the end of last year.
“Data itself is an exclusive and immensely promising new industry and it has been recognised as a valuable asset that not only assists businesses in enhancing decisionmaking and creating new business models, but also serves as an asset for cross-border collaboration and even tradeable production factors,” Chan said.
He stressed an efficient data ecosystem had become one of the factors attracting businesses to set up in the city, whether they were working in artificial intelligence, or technology for the life and health sector or finance industry.
“These companies recognise Hong Kong’s unique advantage of being able to harness data from both mainland China and international sources under the ‘one country, two systems’ framework,” he said, adding this was crucial for market expansion.
Authorities will set up an office this year, guided by 12 recommendations from a government committee in February, to promote the development of the digital economy and Hong Kong as a smart city, aligning with the vast market potential of the mainland.