Hui eyes strategy to turn HK into full-fledged finance hub

Last but not least, the financial services chief said that Hong Kong is still an attractive fundraising venue for mainland enterprises as well as Asian companies even though the city's IPO market has been very quiet in the first half of this year.

"If you are talking about the convergence of capital from East and West, and also (investment) exposure that mainland investors are trying to seek in the country and in Asia, Hong Kong is the natural place for them. These fundamentals will allow us to further to grow our role as the IPO hub and at the same time to allow us to pursue the reforms highlighted to make us more attractive and also more competitive," Hui said.

The latest number of applications that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's IPO teams are processing is more than 170, Hui said.

The financial services chief said the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is planning to introduce a new specialist technology segment to the city's main board market. The investor protection concern should be addressed and investor education should be provided so that investors can appraise the value of these specialist technology companies which can be without revenue or profits, Hui said.

He also noted that there is a specialist group under the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's listing committee to explore how to further enhance the role of the Growth Enterprise Market board to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

Hong Kong can enrich the sources of listing companies, Hui said. "We can see the economies like ASEAN or other Asian economies are also growing. There will be a need for them for fundraising to spur business growth so that Hong Kong can position itself not just as the fundraising center for our own companies of the country, but also as a fundraising center for companies in Asia at large.

"I will be going to Southeast Asia soon in order to bring more of these companies here and also to appeal to them in terms of our advantages, being a fundraising center," Hui added.