Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2666 actions· ✨ 90 recent

The Hong Kong government launched the Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme (FTRSS) on 26 September 2025, a HK$3 billion matching-grant fund administered by the Innovation and Technology Commission. The scheme funds the eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities to attract international top-tier researchers and procure research facilities in frontier-technology fields, with each successful application eligible for HK$100-300 million. The government frames the scheme as dovetailing with national strategic planning for frontier technologies; applications closed 25 November 2025 with results expected in H1 2026.

On 2025-06-25, Hong Kong's New Industrialisation Vetting Committee announced it had supported an application from J Cube Semiconductor (Hong Kong) Limited under the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme (NIAS) — the third project approved under the scheme. The project will establish production facilities for third-generation (silicon carbide, SiC) semiconductor wafers in Hong Kong, classed under the advanced-manufacturing-technology sector. Total project cost is estimated at over HKD 700 million, with expected NIAS government funding of up to HKD 200 million — the scheme's per-project cap. The same announcement introduced an enhancement measure for the related New Industrialisation Funding Scheme (NIFS).

Government Decree 163/2025 (VI. 23.) amends the emergency-era Decree 561/2022 (XII. 23.) on economic-protection deviations, making two operative changes to Hungary's FDI screening regime: it extends the review period from 30 to up to 135 working days (45-day base plus three 30-workday extensions) and introduces a state pre-emption right, exercisable within 90 calendar days of a prohibition decision, allowing MNV Zrt. (Hungarian National Asset Management Company) or a designated entity to acquire the blocked target on the same terms as the original parties. The decree applies retroactively to all notification procedures pending at the time of entry into force (24 June 2025) and expands the screening scope from a solar-sector focus to broad strategic sectors. It served as an interim bridge — in force from 24 June to 18 August 2025 — until superseded by the permanent statutory codification in Act L of 2025.

Hong Kong enacted the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Minimum Tax for Multinational Enterprise Groups) Ordinance 2025 (Ordinance No. 21 of 2025), gazetted on 6 June 2025 after the Legislative Council passed the Bill on 28 May 2025. The Ordinance inserts Part 4AA and Schedules 61–64 into the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), implementing the OECD/G20 Pillar Two GloBE rules for MNE groups with consolidated annual revenue ≥ EUR 750 million in at least two of the four preceding fiscal years. It introduces a 15% Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and the Hong Kong Minimum Top-up Tax (HKMTT) — a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) — effective for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2025; the Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR) is deliberately deferred to a date to be specified by gazette notice, completing a structurally phased Pillar Two architecture. IRD estimates additional revenue of approximately HKD 15 billion per year from 2027–28.

The Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656) on 21 May 2025 (third reading), brought into operation by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury on 1 August 2025. The Ordinance introduces a mandatory licensing regime administered by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) for any person who issues a fiat-referenced stablecoin (FRS) in Hong Kong, issues an HKD-pegged stablecoin anywhere in the world, or actively markets such issuance to the Hong Kong public. Key requirements include minimum HK$25 million paid-up capital, segregated pools of high-quality liquid reserve assets fully backing circulating supply, mandatory redemption-at-par rights for holders, AML/CFT controls, and broad HKMA enforcement powers including licence suspension, revocation, and financial penalties. A six-month transitional period for existing operators expires 31 January 2026.