The head of the government's investment promotion agency on Sunday said her office will focus on bringing in non-local companies that can "create a larger financial impact" in Hong Kong.

In the past year, InvestHK helped a record 539 non-local companies establish or expand in the SAR, with total investment reaching HK$67.7 billion.

"The companies we want to attract are from all industries... We want to put more focus on companies that would create more jobs, and to bring in more direct investments, and create a larger financial impact for Hong Kong," its director-general, Alpha Lau, said.

"A lot of these [companies] that we brought in... they are looking at the growth of the demographics and the wealth in the region, so they would want to invest more here."

Lau said her department would boost promotional efforts in regions like Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The director-general added that she would act as a “salesperson” and clarify any misunderstandings that foreign firms might have about the SAR.

"The concerns that some of them might have, whether because of geopolitics or other reasons -- they might be due to a misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge about Hong Kong. I think facts tell a thousand words," Lau said.