Chan says AI brings jobs, growth and governance tests
SingTao · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (陳茂波) said artificial intelligence is adding momentum to the economy and is expected to open up new occupations and new development tracks for Hong Kong. He also said AI is creating governance challenges as major economies debate regulation, data use, compliance and risk management. In his view, Hong Kong can use its legal system, multilingual professional talent and financial support to provide trusted solutions in areas such as model training, cross-border data flows, privacy protection and dispute resolution. He linked that outlook to stronger exports and said the government remains confident of meeting its revised full-year GDP growth forecast of 3.5% to 4.5%
Key Points
- Chan said Hong Kong has a distinctive edge in offering both “rules” and “trust” as global discussions on AI governance, data, compliance and risk management gather pace
- He said the city’s common law system, bilingual and trilingual common law professionals, international standards links and financial backing support trusted AI-related services
- Driven by demand for AI and related electronic products, Hong Kong’s total goods exports reached HK$667.9 billion in August, up 53% year on year
- For the first eight months, total goods exports rose 42.5%, and the government’s economic adviser remains confident the revised 3.5% to 4.5% GDP target can be met
- Chan said the government will roll out more than 200 AI training courses and activities by the first quarter of 2028, while an AI upskilling scheme should benefit at least 40,000 employees
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong, the policy message is that AI is not only an innovation agenda but also a labour-market and regulatory agenda. If the city can pair skills training with trusted legal and compliance services, it could compete for AI-related business while helping workers adjust to changing job demand