AI boom will sustain Hong Kong’s export surge, lift GDP outlook, economists say

AI boom will sustain Hong Kong’s export surge, lift GDP outlook, economists say Baptist University’s Billy Mak says rising export values also reflect higher prices for AI components and relative easing in China-US trade tensions Hong Kong’s export surge will extend into the coming months, driven by the global AI boom, economists have told the South China Morning Post, adding that GDP growth could surpass official forecasts. Billy Mak Sui-choi, an associate professor at Baptist University’s department of accountancy, economics and finance, said global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) remained far from saturated and would continue to drive exports. “No single country has yet been able to dominate the AI field across models, services and hardware,” Mak said. “As long as countries see an opportunity to compete, they will continue investing in the necessary hardware.” He noted that while initial AI demand centred on Nvidia’s graphics processing units, businesses realised that a broader ecosystem was required, including memory chips, photovoltaic modules and motherboards, helping to explain Hong Kong’s strong exports and re-exports from mainland China. Hong Kong exports rose by 53.4 per cent year on year in June, as overseas demand for the region’s electronic products supporting AI pushed monthly shipments to their highest level since March 1984, when the same figure stood at 61.6 per cent. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed the value of exports climbed to a record HK$641.1 billion (US$81.7 billion) after a 40.8 per cent rise in May. [Image text:] SanDisk SanDisk SanDisk Lexar ESS nisk panDisk JARMOR 256 SaRisk GOLO Levar 1800 tar 512 Jtre Uitra 28 SILVER PRO tar 512g SAMSON 53.0 SAVER-LUS Les SAMSUNG 64 KIOXIA SanDisk SanDisk Lexar EXCERIAP Lexal XCERIA SanDisk anDisk 128 SanDisk Disk mory Card Verbatim 256 KIOXIA KIOXIA Lexar Lexar PROFESSIONAL EXCERIANR 256 PROEndurance IOXIA 50 AMSUNG SanDisk SanDisk oan saaey 256 UNITEK Transcend o5D350V 512 512oyn Disk Sanisle USB-ATO- Zn CnITEK KIOXIA SANDISI Neto PECEON 1 5.3