The government's investment promotion agency said on Sunday that a new immigration scheme for investors had received a strong response, with more than a hundred enquiries after it began accepting applications a few days ago.

The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme requires applicants to invest a minimum of HK$30 million.

InvestHK, which is in charge of the scheme, said the launch had been brought forward by a few months because many people and companies from overseas had been inquiring about the scheme since it was first announced in December last year.

InvestHK director-general Alpha Lau told RTHK that officials had already received some applications.

"I can't disclose details of the applicants, but based on previous enquiries, many of the interested parties are from Southeast Asia and the Middle East," she said.

"Perhaps they think there is a greater variety of investment products available in Hong Kong compared to their home countries, and that the SAR is more stable."

She added that while the government hasn't set a target for the number of applications, her department can handle more than 4,000 applications a year, based on experience with the old scheme.