Speech by Secretary for Trade and Industry

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Following is a speech (English only) by the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Mr CHAU Tak Hay, at the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology Ltd today (Monday):

Professor Li, Dr. Chang, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening to join you in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology.

Either as an industry or as an academic discipline, biotechnology has a relatively short history in Hong Kong. The Institute should therefore rightly be proud that it has been an integral part of that history since its founding ten years ago.

Today, it has firmly established itself as one of the key players in this field. The support services it provides range from an incubation facility for start-up companies to consultation for up-and-running pharmaceutical companies.

On the part of the Government, we are equally proud to have developed a close partnership with the Institute in making these achievements possible. Through the Industrial Support Fund, we have provided financial support to a number of major projects of the Institute.

One example is the establishment of the Manufacturing Technology Centre for Human Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals . I am pleased to know that the Centre has successfully attained Good Manufacturing Practice standards , or GMP standards in short, for manufacturing clinical grade vaccines and biopharmaceutical materials. It is now one of the largest centres of its kind in Asia, and has become a model setup for many other Asian economies to follow.

Another example is the Pharmaceutical Technology Centre that provides the much needed technical support for local pharmaceutical companies to comply with GMP requirements which will be made compulsory by the year 2000.

The Institute has also been an active participant in different local and international biotechnology forums. Its activities have contributed to raising awareness and interest locally as well as developing and strengthening bonds between the local and overseas biotechnology communities. The support that the Institute has obtained from the World Health Organisation and the National Institute of Health in the US over the years for its projects testifies to the recognition that the Institute has won internationally.

The Institute's work fits in well with the Chief Executive's vision of making Hong Kong an innovation and technology centre of the Region. In his Policy Address in October, the Chief Executive set out a number of new initiatives to realise this vision.

The establishment of an Innovation and Technology Fund, with an initial injection of $5 billion; and the setting up of an Applied Science and Technology Research Institute to boost our mid-stream research capacity, are two examples.

I would encourage the Institute to make the most use of these initiatives to help us strengthen our technological capability.

Biotechnology is seen by many as one of the growth industries in the next century. As with many growth industries, however, the competition is likely to be keen. I would therefore urge the Institute to continue its good work in helping Hong Kong to tap the full potential and reap the full benefit in this exciting area.

I look forward to closer cooperation between the Institute, industry and the Government in furthering the development of biotechnology in Hong Kong. Thank you.

End/Monday, December 7, 1998

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