Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Friday that the establishment of a new research and development centre will inject momentum into Hong Kong's medical innovation ecosystem.

Chan delivered a speech at the unveiling ceremony of the AstraZeneca R&D Centre and iCampus, which is dedicated to cell and gene therapy.

He said the territory is vigorously developing into an international innovation and technology centre, with life and health being a key development area.

"I hope that through on-site inspections, you will learn about Hong Kong’s excellent business environment, thriving innovation and technology ecosystem, and the latest supporting policies of the SAR government, and actively consider expanding your business to a great place like Hong Kong," Chan said.

He said the territory has major advantages when it comes to developing the life and health technology industry, including a free flow of information and capital, convenient financing, talent, and the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

AstraZeneca's Global Executive Vice-President Wang Lei added that Hong Kong was chosen for its open market, tax incentives and academic connections, as well as for its gateway to the Greater Bay Area for introducing new international drugs.

Meanwhile, oncology expert Tony Mok said Hong Kong is on the path to becoming a strong international R&D hub, but work is still needed towards turning academic research and development in the biomedical sector into a commercial business.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Mok, from Chinese University, said the SAR should work on this area with the mainland and other countries.

"Apart from the so-called funding from the government, we do need actually a lot of potential facilitation in the regulation. For example, the data and the sample, whether we can actually utilise the one that comes from China," he said.

"So we do have the brain and the ability here, but then our database is still small. For example, I have been doing the biomarker research. So if we were able to get some of the samples that come across from China, then we can actually do this a lot faster."