Hong Kong ranks 11th globally in digital and AI competitiveness.

The International Institute for Management Development released the World Digital and AI Rankings 2026 on November 11. Hong Kong ranked 11th globally among 70 economies and 4th in Asia. Among the five factors considered in the ranking, Hong Kong ranked second in "Workforce Development," fifth in "Efficiency," and tenth in "Technology and Infrastructure." A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the ranking affirms that Hong Kong is one of the world's most competitive economies in digital and AI development. The spokesperson said the SAR government is fully committed to developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub in accordance with the direction set out in the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030). Among other things, Hong Kong will optimize its innovation and technology development framework, accelerate alignment with national key science and technology strategies, and build a new landscape of "three major innovation and technology parks and five major research institutions." In particular, the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone will form a coordinated upstream, midstream and downstream development with the San Tin Technopole, jointly building a complete industrial ecosystem covering research and development, translation, pilot testing and mass production. In addition, Hong Kong will advance new industrialization in light of local conditions, build a new industrialization industry development system with Hong Kong characteristics, and comprehensively promote the "AI+" initiative, enhance computing infrastructure, and accelerate the adoption of AI by small and medium-sized enterprises. The spokesperson added that in upstream scientific research, the government will consolidate and enhance the "dual base" advantages of the InnoHK research platform and the State Key Laboratories, and continue to advance the establishment of the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research Institute, the Hong Kong Institute for AI Research and the Hong Kong Institute for Life and Health Research, further improving the layout of Hong Kong's public research system. In industrial development, through preparing to establish the first National Manufacturing Innovation Center in Hong Kong, the government will accelerate the development of national strategic emerging industries. The Sha Ling Data Park has commenced construction and is expected to be fully operational by 2032 or earlier, at which time it will provide computing power of 180,000 petaFLOPS per second, equivalent to 36 times Hong Kong's current computing power. Meanwhile, the government has launched the AI Subsidy Scheme to support the industry in using high-performance computing power for cutting-edge research, and is optimizing the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme to provide matching funding to more small and medium-sized enterprises for adopting AI and cybersecurity solutions. The "iAM Smart" platform has now achieved "one-stop processing" of government services, with more than 220,000 daily users, and provides access to more than 1,400 online services and government e-forms from government and public and private organizations.