NITTP — New Industrialisation and Technology Training Programme
This one funds people, not equipment: it subsidises local enterprises sending staff for high-end technology training, especially courses related to new industrialisation. The government matches at 1:1, up to HK$250,000 per enterprise per financial year, and each employee may have one course funded per financial year. Both public courses and courses designed specifically for a company qualify, and local as well as non-local courses are supported. Applications are accepted year-round, administered by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) as secretariat. It sits under the New Industrialisation Support Scheme (NISS).
You have a Hong Kong-registered enterprise and want to raise your staff's technical capability — for high-end technology courses in smart production, data, automation and the like, the government pays half, up to HK$250,000 a year.
If what you want subsidised is R&D staff **salaries** rather than training fees, that's the Research Talent Hub (RTH). Government and subvented bodies are ineligible, and the nominated employee must be a Hong Kong permanent resident, so an all-expat team cannot use it.
- Deadline / window
- Applications accepted year-round with no fixed deadline
- For whom
- Enterprises registered in Hong Kong under the Business Registration Ordinance that are not government or subvented bodies; the nominated employee must be a Hong Kong permanent resident with a relevant background or experience
- Submit a 'public course registration application' or a 'training grant application' through the official system
- Business registration certificate, proof of the trainee's identity and qualifications, course details and fee documentation
Two application paths
The scheme supports two shapes of training, which take two different application routes — work out which one you're in before entering the system.
The matching ratio changed in August 2025
The current 1 (government) : 1 (enterprise) ratio took effect on 2025-08-01. If an agent or an older article quotes you a different ratio, trust the official scheme page — adjustments like this can be made quietly without a press release, so it's worth checking the official page before each application.
- 1
Check eligibility on both the company and employee side
The enterprise must be registered in Hong Kong under the Business Registration Ordinance and not be a government or subvented body; the nominated employee must be a Hong Kong permanent resident with a relevant background or experience.
Pitfall: Nominating an employee who is not a permanent resident — the employee-side test is the one people overlook until the application is already in.
- 2
Pick the course and identify its type
For a public course, check whether it is already registered; for a bespoke course, prepare a content description explaining how it qualifies as 'high-end technology'.
Pitfall: Choosing an unregistered public course, leaving the grant application with nothing to attach to.
- 3
Plan the annual quota
The ceiling is HK$250,000 per enterprise per financial year and one course per employee per financial year — with a larger team, plan who trains in which financial year.
Pitfall: Scheduling two courses for the same employee in one financial year — the second cannot be approved.
- 4
Submit via the official system and keep the paperwork
Applications are accepted year-round; matching funding means the half you pay yourself also needs clean documentation that reconciles at sign-off.
Pitfall: Taking the course first and doing the paperwork later — once the evidence trail breaks, you cannot claim it back.
Which courses get judged as not 'high-end technology', and where does assessment actually draw the line?· First-hand insight in the works
Pending a first-hand interview with an approved enterprise.
For a start-up whose team is mostly non-permanent residents, how much use is this route in practice?· First-hand insight in the works
Pending a first-hand interview.
- 01Want to lift your staff's technical capability → check the registered public-course list and the application system on the official NITTP page.
- 02What you need subsidised is R&D salaries → look at the Research Talent Hub (RTH) instead.
- 03Also upgrading line hardware → its siblings Manufacturing+ (1:2, HK$250K per enterprise) and NIFS (new lines) can run alongside.
One of the three sub-schemes under the New Industrialisation Support Scheme (NISS), alongside NIFS (new smart lines) and Manufacturing+ (upgrading existing lines). The 1:1 matching is the version effective from 2025-08-01. Company age / turnover / headcount are not thresholds for this scheme and are therefore not listed. Amounts and ratios follow ITC's latest official figures.