*****************************
Following is a speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the Opening of the 6th Annual Conference of the Hong Kong Institution of Science today (Saturday):
Professor Chang, Professor Barrett, Professor Ng, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me really a great deal of pleasure to be here today to open the Sixth Annual Conference of the Hong Kong Institution of Science. I am really very grateful for the kind invitation extended by Professor Chang and Professor Ng and the opportunity of addressing this particular audience of distinguished scientists and academics.
Professor Ng was right. I graduated as an engineer. My first job was an engineer. I worked in Boston with General Electric Company, learning how to design a steam turbine and I worked at it for about two years until family duty called. My father said: "Enough fooling around, come back to do some real work." I feel very inadequate standing before these distinguished scientists and academics because I really must confess I am not a good engineer. My wife always tells me that I cannot even fix a light bulb. But science and technology are really important for the future of Hong Kong.
The theme of this year's conference, with its emphasis on the development of a sustainable economy through science and technology, is indeed, a most timely one.
Earlier this month, in my Policy Address, I set out my firm belief that innovation and technology are important drivers of economic growth. The 21st century will be a knowledge-based world. In a knowledge-based global economy, innovation and technology are essential in adding value, increasing productivity and enhancing our overall competitiveness. Innovation and technology also plays a critical role in enhancing our personal pursuits of excellence, advancing our industrial development and improving our quality of life in general. Hong Kong must strive to fully equip itself to seize new opportunities and to compete successfully in the global market as we enter this new era. I wish to point out that the world's most outstanding economic success stories of recent years have mostly involved the application of innovation and technology. In the world's largest economy, that of the United States of America, 80 per cent of productivity growth is attributed to technological and knowledge-based advances. To achieve success in this area however requires a dedicated effort and a commitment to investing in the necessary technological infrastructure. Although the rewards may not be immediately apparent, this is an essential investment in our future.
To this end, with the help of Professor Tien and the Commission who did excellent work, I have proposed a number of new initiatives in the Policy Address to realise our objective of promoting innovation and technology. I am not going to go through all the details today. Rather, I would like to take this opportunity to elaborate on some of the underlying principles when we talk about the relationship between innovation and technology on the one hand and economic development on the other.
First, as many in the audience will agree, high technology is not necessarily unreachable and distant. Some people associate high technology with state-of-the-art, cutting-edge products such as aerospace and supercomputers. However, high technology is not remote from our everyday life at all. Technology with high or new scientific contents that creates or adds value to our products and services actually abounds. A very good example of the application of technology in our everyday life is the use of smart cards. In our public transportation system, telecommunications, as well as banking services, literally millions of people benefit from this technology everyday. The use of technology in these areas has created a situation whereby both businesses and customers stand to benefit in terms of improved goods and services and better operational efficiency.
This brings me to my second point - innovation and technology are not the prerogative of new industries. In the same way that banking and transportation may be revolutionised by innovation and technology, so may other so-called traditional industries, such as textiles, garment, plastics and metal. These traditionally relatively low-tech industries still have plenty of opportunities in the global marketplace if they can increase their added value and productivity through innovation and application of technology. It is encouraging to see that our traditional industries are already moving towards that direction. The development of wrinkle-free fabrics in our textiles and garment industry, and the increasing use of the Internet for marketing purposes are just two cases to the point.
Much good work has already been undertaken by the private sector. This is only right in a free market economy. But the Government does recognise that it has to play the role of a promoter and a facilitator. We recognise the need to strengthen Hong Kong's capability to develop concepts and innovative ideas into generic technologies for eventual commercialization by firms. We also appreciate how difficult it is for our industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to invest heavily in research and development. We will therefore establish an Applied Science and Technology Research Institute to support and stimulate mid-stream research. We will also set up a $5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund to finance projects which will contribute to innovation and the technological upgrading of our manufacturing and services industries.
In addition, the Government fully recognises the important enabling role played by information technology in our future development. We have set out our IT vision to make Hong Kong a leader, not a follower, in the information world of tomorrow. We have to promote the development of an IT infrastructure which will stimulate the creation of new products. To demonstrate our commitment, the Government will take the lead in improving our services to the community through an on-line Government Electronic Services Delivery Scheme. The Scheme, which is scheduled to be launched in the year 2000, will enable the public to access government services on a 24-hour basis via the Internet and other means of electronic access. We will also continue our effort to encourage electronic commerce so that our businesses may strengthen their overall competitiveness.
The Government's aim is therefore clear. We would like to develop Hong Kong into an innovation centre of the Region and are committed to a wide range of initiatives to achieve this purpose. But government effort alone is not enough. To realise our vision, we need the support and contribution of the community, in particular academia and the business sector. I am delighted to see that academia and the private sector are taking initiatives to help in the process. This conference is a good example and the input of the Institution last year was very helpful to the work of the Commission and to me personally. This particular forum provides an ideal forum for exchange of views among prominent scientists and technologists. Your ideas and suggestions will provide a valuable input to our work to promote technological development in Hong Kong. As distinguished members of the academia, you play an indispensable role in promoting our community's awareness of the importance of science and technology and in helping us to foster a technology culture in our society which Professor Chang just talked about. Your tireless effort to equip our students and graduates with the right qualities will be an integral part of our success in promoting technology development. I urge you to continue your good work in sustaining and sharpening Hong Kong's competitive edge.
Many have said to me your initiative will take a long time to realise. Many have said to me there are far more important short-term tasks to tackle but as Professor Chang just said, while we tackle the short-term economic difficulties and I want to assure you, we are tackling them as hard as we can, as calculated as we can, as thoughtful as we can, we got to focus the whole community on our long-term future. And the development of science and technology as part of our very important future, is something we really need to work at and I am confident, with your help, we can achieve this. Many have said to me it would take a long time. As I was talking with Professor Tien last night and I also had the benefit of talking with a very distinguished American businessman, who is the head of AIG, Mr Hank Greenberg who had just visited Israel, both of them had told me that in seven years, Israel came from nowhere to become in the forefront in information technology. It came from nowhere. In seven years, they are now one of the leaders in the world's information technology. Yes, it is going to take a long time but ladies and gentlemen, it is not going to take all that long time if we all work together. Thank you very much.
End/Saturday, October 31, 1998
NNNN