Hong Kong targets 3% GDP expenditure on innovation by 2030

Hong Kong will strive to raise its expenditure on innovation activities to a level equivalent to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by around 2030, nearly double the current rate, according to the city’s first five-year plan.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled the ambitious goal, together with measures to boost frontier technologies, including aerospace research, on Wednesday.

Among the 22 indicators laid out in the plan, the government aims to raise the ratio of total domestic expenditure on innovation activities to GDP from 1.63 per cent in 2024 to 3 per cent around 2030.

The government expects the increase in average annual expenditure on innovation activities to be around 10 per cent.