Hong Kong is the only place in the country able to replicate the short-window growth model that US tech giant SpaceX used, former city leader Leung Chun-ying has said, calling for the development of local professional services for the emerging aerospace industry.

Earlier this month, SpaceX’s record-breaking initial public offering (IPO) raised US$85.7 billion, making its chief executive Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

“Elon Musk leveraged the highly market-oriented economy of the US and the power of a capitalist society to pool the country’s capital, talent and technology in a short period of time,” Leung told a radio programme on Sunday.

“Among all cities in our country, which one possesses such a capitalist market force to allow for a model akin to Elon Musk’s? It is Hong Kong.”

Leung stressed that Hong Kong was well-positioned to develop professional services to support the growth of the aerospace and shipping sectors, including legal, insurance and financing services.