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The following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the Hong Kong Awards for Industry Presentation Ceremony today (Tuesday):

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to present the Hong Kong Awards for Industry this evening.

This year marks the 11th anniversary of the Awards. I am glad to see how much progress we have made since the first Awards were made. When the scheme was first launched in 1989, there were only two categories of awards - consumer product design, and machinery and equipment design, which represented the mainstays of the Hong Kong industry in those days. Since then, the awards have been expanded to include productivity and quality, export marketing, environmental performance and technological achievement.

We can see from the expansion of the award scheme not only the progression of the Hong Kong industry from basic manufacturing to emphasis on the softer side of production, namely quality control, care for environment, and advanced technology, but also our ability to modernise and keep pace with the changing aspirations of our customers. At the same time, we also saw our market expanding to cover all corners of the world. In 1989, we mainly focused on Mainland China, the United States and the Japanese markets. Today, Hong Kong manufacturers sell to such far away places as Algeria, Honduras, and Bulgaria, to name but a few. We are now a truly global exporter. All this is a good testimony to the diversity and strength of our industry which has proved itself a dynamic force well placed and well adapted to global competition and technological advances.

The 21st century is just around the corner. In the new era of the knowledge-based economy, ideas and information will matter as much, if not more than, tools and machinery. The success, or otherwise, of an economy will be determined by its abilities to create and to innovate. In addition, trade liberalization and the evolution of information technology have brought down many traditional trade barriers and accelerate our migration to a global market. As I mentioned in my Policy Address this year, we will be able to compete in the world market successfully only if we can provide a wide range of high quality, innovative and technologically sophisticated products and services, and have good access to information. The stories of Microsoft and Intel, the global giants, tell us that we must always stay one step ahead of others in order to remain competitive.

To ensure that Hong Kong is well equipped to embrace these challenges and opportunities that come with them, the Government is firmly committed to developing Hong Kong into a regional centre of innovation and technology. The report published by the Commission on Innovation and Technology in June this year has laid a good foundation and set a clear direction for us. The Government is taking forward these recommendations in earnest. We have already set up a $5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund to upgrade our innovation and technological level. We are in the process of establishing the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute to encourage mid-stream research and development. We will also set up a standing advisory body and a high-level policy group to strengthen our institutional arrangements for promoting innovation and technology. In addition, we have just announced a new scheme to attract talents to Hong Kong to bolster our human resource base. Before the end of the year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will launch the Growth Enterprise Market which will serve as a new capital raising channel for innovation and technology.

The Government has done its part and will do more. The community as a whole must seize the opportunities. In particular, business leaders must take the lead. Their readiness to stay ahead of change and make the best use of innovation and technology is vital to our future success. I am pleased to see that there is now general acceptance within the community of the importance of innovation and technology to Hong Kong's competitiveness. I am also heartened by the enthusiastic and swift response by our business sector to this new course of development.

All this has given me confidence that Hong Kong has the capability to become an innovation and technology centre. As I stated in my Policy Address, the Government is committed to a free and market-oriented economy with fair competition. We will continue to play the role of a promoter, supporter, facilitator and provider of necessary infrastructure. We will also strive, as ever, to work with the private sector in upgrading our industry. The Hong Kong Awards for Industry that we are presenting this evening is one of such example of this Government-private sector partnership.

What stands out from all the winning entries this evening is a quest for excellence. This quality has been and will continue to be the key to our success. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to this year's winners and all the other entrants, for their dedication to quality and excellence. Their ingenuity in product design and entrepreneurial spirit are a source of inspiration for all of our industries. I would also like to express my gratitude to the seven judging panels for performing the very difficult task of selecting the winners from so many deserving entries. Last but not least, I would like to thank the 22 sponsors who have made generous donations to make this year's Awards so successful.

Thank you very much.

End/Tuesday, November 2, 1999

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