Hang Seng Bank Boosts Hong Kong’s SMEs with $4.2 Billion Funding Initiative Amid Economic Challenges

Hang Seng consistently supports the business sector in Hong Kong through fresh financial initiatives. The bank provides financial assistance, innovative solutions, and sustainability strategies to the city's small and medium businesses, enabling them to capitalize on international opportunities.

Even though the Hong Kong economy is continuously getting better, there are still hurdles for the city's enterprises to overcome. These include changes in the spending habits of locals and tourists, and increased running expenses like the prohibition on disposable plastics.

"These illustrate the kind of obstacles companies must confront," says Regina Lee, the chief of commercial banking at Hang Seng Bank. "They must adapt and seek fresh avenues for expansion. All these endeavors demand financial resources and cash flow, and that's where our role comes in."

Small and medium-sized businesses in Hong Kong make up 98% of all companies in the city. They play a crucial role in this time of transformation and creativity, nurturing innovative concepts and adjusting to shifts in consumer behavior and emerging technologies.

Hang Seng Bank acknowledges the significance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their impact on Hong Kong's economic landscape.

"Almost 25% of Hong Kong's small and medium-sized enterprises are our clients, with over half of them maintaining a banking relationship with us for over a decade," says Lee. "More than 60% of the new corporate accounts we established last year belonged to newly created businesses. We are constantly in communication with them to comprehend and help overcome any obstacles they may encounter."

In March of this year, Hang Seng Bank introduced a HK$33 billion (US$4.2 billion) SME Power Up Fund. This fund was designed to offer a variety of loans specifically curated to efficiently cater to the financial requirements of different small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The key areas of focus for this fund include business financing, innovation, connections to Southern China's Greater Bay Area (GBA), and sustainability.