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Budget: Accelerating Development through Reform and Innovation

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Mr Chan

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, unveiled today his 2025-26 Budget. He noted that while geopolitical situation might bring risks, technology reform and artificial intelligence (AI) development are remoulding the global landscape, leading to the emergence of new industries, new forms of business, new products and new services. He stressed that Hong Kong must seize the opportunity to make the most out of this critical window to speed up development, establishing the new before abolishing the old. He also emphasised that transformation and innovation will lead the way into the future, and the Government is poised to fast-track the high-quality development of Hong Kong’s economy.
 
The Budget presents a series of measures aimed at accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces. On innovation and technology (I&T), the Government will promote Hong Kong into an international exchange and co-operation hub for the AI industry. Through frontier research and real-world application, the Government will endeavour to develop AI as a core industry and empower traditional industries in their upgrading and transformation. To spearhead and support Hong Kong’s innovative research and development as well as industrial application of AI, the Government will establish the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute and launch the Pilot Manufacturing and Production Line Upgrade Support Scheme (Manufacturing+). On finance, the Government will continue to take forward reforms to the listing regime, host the Hong Kong Global Financial and Industry Summit, and formulate a plan this year on promoting gold market development.
 
To seize the opportunities brought about by the rapid advancement of innovation and technology, the Budget highlights the need to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis, which is an investment in Hong Kong’s future. The Government will continue to accord priority to providing resources for this initiative, which primarily includes providing large tracts of I&T land at the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, together with San Tin Technopole; adopting an innovative mindset in piloting “large-scale land disposal”; developing a data facility cluster at Sandy Ridge; as well as identifying suitable sites in the Northern Metropolis for the construction of conference and exhibition facilities.

On the promotion of tourism, funding will be allocated to pursue the concept of “tourism is everywhere” and implement the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0. A study will be conducted on the development of the waterfront and former sites to the south of the Hung Hom Station into a new harbourfront landmark, including a yacht club.

Regarding land supply, Mr Chan announced that the Government will not roll out any commercial site for sale in the coming year in view of the high vacancy rates of offices in recent years to allow the market to absorb the existing supply. The Government will also consider rezoning some of the commercial sites into residential use and allowing greater flexibility of land use. To tie in with the relevant work, the deadline for completing in-situ land exchange for commercial sites in the town centre of the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area will be extended.

Mr Chan proposed a reinforced version of the fiscal consolidation programme to focus on strictly controlling government expenditure, supplemented by increasing revenue, to restore fiscal balance in the Operating Account, in a planned and progressive manner, within the current term of the Government. For 2025-26, the executive authorities, the legislature, the judiciary and members of the District Councils, including members of the civil service, take a pay freeze. The Government will step up the Productivity Enhancement Programme; compared with 2023-24, the recurrent expenditure in 2027-28 will record a cumulative reduction by 7 per cent and deliver a saving of $27.3 billion. By April 2027, about 10 000 posts of the civil service establishment are expected to be deleted within this term of Government. The Government will also deliver more efficient public services to citizens through leveraging technology, streamlining processes and driving the digital transformation of public services. In the Budget, it is proposed to adjust two transport subsidy schemes, namely putting forward the “$2 flat rate cum 80 per cent discount” in the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities ($2 Scheme), and raising the threshold for receiving the subsidy under the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme from $400 to $500, with the prevailing subsidy cap at $400 per month remaining unchanged. He will uphold the “user pays” and the “affordable users pay” principles as far as practicable while increasing revenue, including increasing the air passenger departure tax, and reviewing the tolls of government tunnels and trunk roads. The Government will suitably expand the size of bond issuance on the premise of maintaining healthy public finances and use the funds raised on infrastructure works in a proper and flexible manner to invest in Hong Kong’s future and create value for society.

Mr Chan concluded that he has full confidence in and high expectations for the future of Hong Kong, because Hong Kong people are intelligent, creative and tireless in contributing to the economic development. More importantly, he is confident due to the staunch and unwavering support received from the country and Hong Kong people’s profound insight into the major development trends of the future, as well as the city’s enviable and advantageous position.

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OPTRO LAUNCHES AI-POWERED GRC CAPABILITIES FOR THE MODERN ENTERPRISE WITH AI GOVERNANCE, CYBER RISK, AND CONTINUOUS CONTROL MONITORING

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Optro, the leading AI-powered GRC platform empowering enterprises to transform risk into opportunity, has announced several product capabilities to boost the effectiveness of customers’ risk management programs and enable them to innovate with AI confidently and responsibly. These capabilities follow shortly after the company changed its name to reflect what its AI-powered GRC platform enables: a single, coherent view across infosec, compliance, risk, and audit.

“Cyber risk now moves at machine speed, and legacy GRC tools can no longer keep up,” said Happy Wang, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Optro. “By leveraging AI to predict cyber risk, surface real-time insights, and accelerate mitigation, we help organizations shift from reactive reporting to proactive risk defense—building a true system of action that is ready for the AI era.”

Optro’s latest Risk Intelligence report found that AI governance program maturity is advancing, but unevenly. AI adoption continues to outpace AI governance, with 85 percent of organizations reporting they have integrated AI into their core operations or deployed it across multiple functions, while only a quarter report comprehensive visibility into employee AI use. At the same time, only 34 percent of organizations report their AI governance program is strategic and continuously improving. As these challenges become increasingly prevalent across industries, Optro has released the following product capabilities to help customers turn clarity into action:

  • Unified AI Governance: Serves as the essential orchestration layer for AI governance. By bridging the gap between policies & frameworks, your AI tech stack, and human oversight, this capability enables a unified, automated approach. We ensure that AI risks are visible, compliance is streamlined, and governance policies are enforceable across your entire organization.
  • Cyber Risk: Vulnerability Risk Monitoring: Provides a clear narrative of how a specific vulnerability affects an organization’s security posture and bottom line. This AI-powered functionality enables customers to understand the true business impact of a vulnerability. Included with IT and Cyber Risk Management (formerly IT Risk Management), it’s a paradigm shift in how organizations defend their digital perimeter.
  • Continuous Control Monitoring: With AI-driven recommendations for the controls best suited for automation, and a library of ready-to-use monitor templates, teams can bypass manual setup to start monitoring controls immediately. This capability helps customers reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and gain more timely visibility into control performance. By automating evidence collection and surfacing potential issues earlier, teams can address gaps more efficiently and move toward a more continuous approach to assurance.
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MAGNA AI AND CORVIT NETWORKS FORGE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO ACCELERATE PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL AI DEVELOPMENT

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Magna AI, Inc., the global integrated‑value‑chain sovereign AI transformation leader established through a partnership between Trend Micro and Wistron Digital Technology Holding Company (WDH) in strategic collaboration with NVIDIA, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Corvit Networks (Pvt.) Ltd., a leading technology training and digital services organization in Pakistan. The agreement establishes a strategic collaboration framework to advance sovereign AI infrastructure, platforms, and workforce capabilities aimed at accelerating Pakistan’s national AI transformation.

The partnership combines Magna’s expertise in AI engineering, infrastructure, and governance, with Corvit’s extensive nationwide reach across Pakistan’s government, enterprise, and academic ecosystems. Together, the organizations aim to support the development of scalable and secure AI capabilities designed to enable organizations across Pakistan to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) at national and enterprise scale.

This strategic initiative comes at a time when artificial intelligence is emerging as a critical driver of economic growth. According to a PwC report cited by the Saudi Data and AI Authority, AI could contribute up to 5.6% of GDP in economies comparable to Pakistan, potentially generating an AI-driven economic impact of $10–20 billion within Pakistan’s projected $60 billion digital economy by 2030. Globally, annual investment in AI-dedicated infrastructure is projected to reach $400 billion by 2030, underscoring the growing strategic importance of national AI infrastructure for economic competitiveness.

The collaboration will focus on developing the foundational building blocks required to support Pakistan’s AI ecosystem. This includes the joint development of sovereign AI data centers and AI factories designed to support government, public-sector, and enterprise workloads while meeting national data residency and regulatory requirements. Building on this foundation, the partnership will support the creation of next-generation AI applications tailored to priority sectors, including predictive intelligence, agentic AI systems, digital twins, and advanced operational analytics. Security and governance will remain central to the initiative, with enterprise-grade capabilities such as model protection, threat analytics, and AI-driven security operations aligned with national cybersecurity frameworks. Both organizations will also provide end-to-end AI transformation services to help institutions transition from readiness assessments to full-scale AI deployment, while investing in workforce development through AI academies, professional certification programs, and executive education initiatives designed to prepare Pakistan’s talent ecosystem for the AI economy.

“Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming foundational to economic competitiveness and national innovation” said, Dr. Moataz BinAli, CEO, Magna AI. Pakistan stands at a pivotal moment in its digital transformation journey. Through this partnership with Corvit Networks, Magna aims to support the development of sovereign AI infrastructure, platforms, and talent capabilities that can help organizations across the country unlock the full potential of AI.”

“Corvit Networks has spent decades building trusted relationships across Pakistan’s technology ecosystem,” said Kashif Ul Haq, CEO, Corvit Networks (Pvt.) Ltd. “Combining our nationwide reach in enterprise enablement and technology education with Magna AI’s global expertise in AI infrastructure and transformation, we are committed to helping strengthen Pakistan’s digital capabilities and prepare the next generation of AI-ready talent.”

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LIFERAY INTRODUCES HEADLESS CMS TO MODERNIZE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT

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Liferay, a leading provider of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs), today announced the general availability of Liferay CMS, a fully headless content management system (CMS) designed to help marketing, development, and IT teams create, manage, and deliver digital content across multiple channels from a centralized repository.

Built on the core architecture of Liferay DXP, Liferay CMS combines the agility of a decoupled system with the stability and governance required by enterprise organizations. Whether powering a native mobile app, a customer portal, or a complex web ecosystem, Liferay CMS ensures content remains consistent, reusable, and easily distributable.

“Today’s organizations need agility without losing control of their content operations,” said Julia Molano, Director of Product Management at Liferay. “Liferay CMS builds on Liferay’s decades of DXP leadership to deliver a fully headless offering. It allows developers to work with stable, well-documented APIs while empowering marketers and content creators to manage global content without heavy reliance on IT.”

Liferay CMS introduces Spaces, the platform’s primary organizational units for headless content management, enabling teams to structure asset repositories, manage access, and collaborate more efficiently across departments or projects. Each Space provides a dedicated environment for content creation and management, including support for advanced localization with AI-powered translation tools, making it easier for global organizations to manage multi-language content.

“Across the Middle East, enterprises are moving away from fragmented content systems to unified, centralized architectures that can support scale and speed simultaneously. Headless CMS is becoming a critical enabler in this shift, allowing enterprises to deliver consistent digital experiences across channels while maintaining control and governance.  With Liferay’s intuitive CMS, teams can manage content centrally, reduce operational complexity, and accelerate time-to-market and deeper customer engagement’’, noted Moussalam Dalati, General Manager of Liferay Middle East, Africa, and France.

Key features of Liferay CMS include:

  • Global Content Visibility: A single view to search, review, and reuse content across regions and brands, eliminating disconnected repositories.
  • Headless Architecture: Combines the flexibility of headless deployments with the governance and control of a centralized system.
  • Embedded Analytics: Performance metrics like views and downloads are displayed directly within Liferay CMS, allowing teams to validate asset performance at the point of work.
  • AI-Assisted Workflows: Accelerates translation, localization, and content review.
  • Multi-Site Management: Ideal for franchises or organizations with multiple digital properties, allowing for centralized control while granting team-specific access.
  • Unified Collaboration: Dedicated ‘Shared with Me’ areas and advanced access controls ensure all stakeholders work from a single source of truth.

The launch of Liferay CMS reflects a modular platform approach designed for organizations that prioritize an API-first strategy. Because it is built on the same core architecture as Liferay DXP, organizations can start with a streamlined headless CMS today and seamlessly activate integrated capabilities like advanced commerce, page building, or AI-driven personalization as their digital requirements expand.

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