Hong Kong’s new plan to revive business confidence: Office… | World News

Hong Kong’s government announced a series of measures on Friday to entice wealthy family offices to set up in the financial hub, as authorities try to restore business confidence and investor appeal after three years of strict COVID-19 rules.

A revised investment immigration program, new tax breaks and incentives, such as an art storage facility at the city’s international airport, will be part of family office offerings in the special administrative region of China, the government said in a statement.

The announcement came as the former British colony held a Wealth for Good summit on Friday that was said to be attended by more than 100 family offices and business figures, including former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, tycoon Richard, Bill’s Robert Rosen and Melinda Gates Foundation and Neil Shen, founding managing partner of Sequoia China.

“The policy statement demonstrates our determination to develop Hong Kong into a leading global center for family offices,” Paul Chensaid the city financial secretary.

This will help strengthen Hong Kong’s financial sector, as well as areas such as technology, environmental protection, arts and culture, and philanthropy, Chan said.

City leader Li Jiachao said last year that he had set a goal of attracting 200 large family offices to Hong Kong by 2025.

After Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, many wealthy individuals and companies moved to rival financial centers such as Singapore, even as Hong Kong struggles to attract wealthy families.

The shift has been accelerated by strict COVID containment measures that have sealed Hong Kong’s borders and isolated it from the rest of the world, following China’s zero-COVID policy.

Hong Kong is trying to revive its image with a string of events and conferences aimed at attracting international tourists, including this week’s Art Basel and April’s Rugby Sevens and Creamfields music festival.