Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Tuesday told business leaders in San Francisco that the SAR is a “natural launching pad” for them to enter the Asian and China markets, as he promoted collaboration between the China-US bay areas on a five-day trip.

Speaking at a business luncheon, Chan said there were many commonalities between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Bay Area, with the two places the global engines of technological innovation and also the birthplaces of tech firm giants.

“The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Bay Area are a magnet, attracting a lot of talent, that is our competitive advantage, and also this will give us continuous impetus in terms of innovation and technological development,” Chan said.

He went on to point out there’s also a difference between the two places in terms of population and market sizes, as the Californian bay area has a population of about seven million, while the Guangdong bay area population stands at some 87 million, with huge market potential contributing to some 12 percent of the Chinese economy.

“So if you want to launch your products or services in Asia, in China, Hong Kong is naturally your launching pad, because from here you can springboard to other parts of the mainland and Asia,” he told delegates, noting the SAR’s financial markets are much bigger in breadth and depth compared with Singapore.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between InvestHK and San Francisco’s Bay Area Council to promote cooperation especially in the green economy.

Separately, the finance minister also met with representatives of five Hong Kong startups currently exploring expansion in San Francisco.

The five SAR startups specialise in areas including biodegradable materials, new construction materials, online marketing, artificial intelligence, and robotics, and the entrepreneurs are exploring the market there whilst undertaking training programmes.

The finance chief also welcomed a plan by a Silicon Valley startup accelerator company to set up a technological innovation centre in the SAR.