The government's investment promotion agency on Tuesday said it assisted 322 companies to establish or expand their business in Hong Kong in the first half of the year.

That was 43 percent more compared with the same period last year.

InvestHK said the companies injected over HK$38.3 billion into the economy and created more than 3,500 jobs.

At a press briefing, the Director-General of Investment Promotion, Alpha Lau, said these companies are from 33 economies, with nearly half from the mainland.

"For the mainland enterprises, over the past years, the percentage had always been hovering around 35 percent, because Hong Kong is an international city that's a springboard into the rest of the world," she explained.

"We are unlike any other Chinese city, which is why even Chinese enterprises have to come to Hong Kong. Most of them do anyway, to set up the first stepping stone or international headquarters to go outside of China."

Twenty-four percent of the 322 firms helped so far this year are from the financial services and FinTech sectors, while 19 percent are from the innovation and technology industry.

Lau also said InvestHK is currently scrutinising 310 applications received since March for the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, which aims to attract high-net-worth individuals to Hong Kong. She said she expects the scheme to bring in investments exceeding HK$9 billion.

Looking ahead, Lau said the agency will focus its promotional efforts in the coming months on the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as in the Middle East and North Africa.