Following the signing of the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between Hong Kong and Türkiye, the Trade and Industry Department rolled out an enhancement to the BUD Fund on 31 October 2023. The geographical scope of funding support of the BUD Fund is extended to Türkiye, to further support Hong Kong enterprises in developing their businesses in the market.

The total number of economies covered under the BUD Fund is thereby increased to 38^Note. Non-listed Hong Kong enterprises may apply for funding in developing the huge domestic market of the Mainland and other markets outside Hong Kong with potential, funding is capped at HK$1 million for each general application. The cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise under the BUD Fund is HK$7 million.

The Government has launched “Easy BUD” on June 2023 to facilitate SMEs in preparing applications and implementing projects with simplified application and streamlined vetting arrangements, funding is capped at HK$100,000 for each “Easy BUD” application.

For more information about BUD Fund, you may refer to the BUD Fund website (https://www.bud.hkpc.org/en/) or contact Hong Kong Productivity Council, the BUD Fund implementation partner, at 2788 6088.

 

^Note Besides the newly added economy of Türkiye, the other 37 economies covered under the BUD Fund are the Mainland, New Zealand, the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Chile, Macao, the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (i.e. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Georgia, Australia, Austria, Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.