A start-up accelerator co-founded by Hong Kong legislative council member Jonny Ng Kit-Chong wants to attract 1,000 Web3 companies to set up shop in the city-state over the next three years.

Ng Kit-Chong is a member of the legislative council of the electoral committee constituency and has been in office since January this year. The engineer and politician has his finger in many pots, as he has stated that he owns shares in approximately 40 different companies.

One such company is startup accelerator G-Rocket, which he co-founded with Casper Wong in 2016.

Wong is the current CEO and spoke to the South China Morning Post on December 23 about the company’s new program, aptly named “Hong Kong Web 3.0 Hub.”

The CEO noted that G-Rocket is looking to first help 100 Web3 startups get their business off the ground, before scaling the number up to 1,000 within three years.

“We hope to help bring good companies and talent back to Hong Kong in the post-pandemic era,” Wong said.

In particular, Wong said the company will work together with the virtual ZA Bank, a government-run incubator called Cyberport, and real estate conglomerate New World Development to help Hong Kong startups gain access to office space, services banking and government.

Wider Web3 push

G-Rocket’s initiative comes as part of a broader push by the Hong Kong government to make China’s special administrative region a crypto hub that can compete with Singapore.

In late October, Elizabeth Wong, head of the fintech unit of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), announced a series of progressive regulatory crypto proposals, including legalizing trading in virtual assets.

“We will set up timely and necessary crash barriers to mitigate actual and potential risks in line with international standards, so that virtual asset innovations can thrive in Hong Kong in a sustainable manner,” reads an October 31 government statement. .

As of October 31, the SFC also began allowing listings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that offer exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with CSOP Asset Management being one of the first to participate.

Related: Hong Kong Could Be Key To China’s Crypto Comeback: Arthur Hayes

Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 15 that CSOP Asset Management had raised $73.6 million in investments before listing two crypto futures ETFs on the Hong Kong stock exchange the next day.

Hong Kong’s legislative council also amended its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) system on Dec. 8 to include virtual asset service providers alongside traditional financial institutions.