Hong Kong Investment Corp Ltd (HKIC) formed a strategic partnership with medical services provider New Frontier Group on Wednesday, as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region doubles down on medical technology to develop itself into an international health and medical innovation hub.

Under the partnership, New Frontier Group will help promote cross-boundary healthcare collaboration between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) by facilitating wider use of Hong Kong’s medical devices and treatment solutions in the Greater Bay Area and introducing the mainland’s cutting-edge treatment options to the city.

An international medical research platform will be set up in Hong Kong and investment in the development of clinical applications and related projects will be increased to facilitate clinical research transformations and contract research organizations (CRO).

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The group will also help enhance technological adoption in Hong Kong’s medical field — in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), smart hardware, and surgical and nursing robotics — to push forward with personalization and intelligence.

“New Frontier Group’s deployment of facilities and services in Hong Kong and the wider Greater Bay Area could provide application scenarios for medical research,” Clara Chan Ka-chai, chief executive officer of HKIC, said at the ceremony marking the collaboration.

For example, the company’s drug development platform can provide full-process CRO services, which means that it is able to provide support in terms of research services on a contract basis.

Chan said HKIC will focus on three aspects this year. The government fund, which manages HK$62 billion ($8 billion), will push for wider application of frontier technologies. It will also strive to enable innovative scientific achievements to enter the market, serve society and become “accessible, applicable and affordable” to the public.

More efforts will also be made on international cooperation, with HKIC planning to visit ASEAN countries in the first half of the year and the Middle East in the second half, she added.

The fund has invested in more than 90 projects so far, including projects in AI, life technology, new energy and green technology.

Addressing the same event, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po reaffirmed Hong Kong’s capability in building itself into an international health and medical innovation hub.

“Top-notch scientific research and university talent, sound medical infrastructure and sufficient clinical resources, a leading whole-chain financing market — these are three basic conditions to become an international health and medical innovation hub, Paul Chan Mo-po said.

“Hong Kong has these conditions and its scientific research capability in some medical specialties is among the world's leading ones.”

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He added that “HKIC’s formation of a strategic partnership with the New Frontier Group will enhance the synergistic cooperation among medical institutions and resources in the GBA, thereby injecting vitality into the region’s medical technology ecosystem”.

Antony Leung, co-founder and chairman of New Frontier Group, said Hong Kong’s internationalized medical advantages can benefit more mainland patients, which will help consolidate the city’s position as an international medical center.

“For example, there are many renowned doctors and academics in Hong Kong. New Frontier Group can assist them in sharing their research achievements and experience with the mainland,” he said.

Contact the writer at thor_wu@chinadailyhk.com