Funding to Cyberport: Supporting the development of the start-up ecosystem and promotion of e-sports development
Promoting e-sports
Mr CHAN Chun-ying supported the proposed funding injection into Cyberport to promote e-sports. He queried whether the Administration would treat e-sports as a sports policy or a technology subject and how the Administration would nurture talents to meet the needs of the sector. S for IT said that Cyberport had conducted a consultancy study on the development of e-sports in Hong Kong and consulted relevant parties. It was considered that the Administration should support the esports industry in the early stage of development in Hong Kong. It was hence appropriate for the Innovation and Technology Bureau (“I&TB”) to take the lead in promoting e-sports as a matter of industry development. S for IT said that I&TB had maintained close contact with the Home Affairs Bureau and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (“CEDB”) on this.
S for IT supplemented that it was the Administration’s intention for world-class e-sports events to be organized in Hong Kong so as to build up an esports culture in the community. He said that many overseas companies have expressed interest in investing in the e-sports industry in Hong Kong.
Easy Landing Scheme
Mr CHAN Chun-ying commented that the terms of providing rent concession of up to $1 million or 50% of the rental for a period of up to five years to eligible companies were not attractive enough to encourage leading Internet enterprises and financial technology companies to enter Cyberport and set up offices and research and development (“R&D”) units there. Mr Christopher CHEUNG made a similar comment, and he queried whether other incentives such as staff accommodation and education services for staff family members could be offered.
S for IT said that the proposed terms were to be offered as a gesture to invite multi-national companies to set up offices and R&D units in Cyberport. He added that the terms to be offered under the Easy Landing Scheme needed to be fair to other existing tenants of Cyberport. S for IT further explained that multi-national companies setting up a base in Cyberport had other benefits, such as the opportunities to cooperate with start-up companies at Cyberport.
Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport (“CEO/Cyberport”) said that some Cyberport tenants (such as Furrion and Zhongan) were among the leaders in their respective fields. Whilst starting in a modest scale in Hong Kong, these companies had grown in size over the years and could help stimulate the development of other start-up companies through collaboration and experience exchange. The Chairman said that Cyberport could provide other examples of target companies under the Easy Landing Scheme in writing after the meeting for members’ reference.