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Following is the full text of the speech (English only) delivered by the Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, at the opening of "Innovation 2000 - The Millennium Frontier" today (Friday):

Professor Chang, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for those kind remarks. I can honestly say I take great delight in being asked to officiate at events such as this. They stretch the boundaries of the imagination.

They challenge new frontiers. They provide us with a glimpse of the future. And when the innovations are products of Hong Kong, they make us doubly proud.

But I'm also reminded of how the world has arrived at this incredible state of technological development.

For me it is encompassed in the following pithy comment:

"Technology made large populations possible; large populations now make technology indispensable."

And it has been a pretty busy time in Hong Kong in this respect.

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of participating in the official launch of the Hong Kong Science Park, which is an important catalyst in stimulating innovation and promoting the growth of technology-based industries here. In the previous week, the private sector was giving details of new investments planned in communications technology.

Innovation 2000 - The Millennium Frontier is the brainchild of the Industry and Technology Development Council, and the dedicated work of the Industry Department with the enthusiastic participation of the private sector, universities and industry support bodies.

It's all part of our plan to stimulate and promote innovation and technology and to develop a knowledge-based society. To showcase some of the initiatives in research and development in Hong Kong.

To see, in working displays, advanced technologies used in our services and manufacturing processes; and witness the barriers that are being challenged by future technology.

The application of advanced information and technology in modern society is bringing about radical changes. The world's economies are becoming increasingly interdependent. In a sense - the world is merging.

We can see this in the increasing cross-border alliances for businesses, licensing deals, trading and distribution agreements, and technology transfer.

Lower costs in communications and advances in information technology have made it viable to operate internationally from a small base.

The Internet, non-existent a few years ago, is now a way of life. Electronic commerce in all its forms is becoming a new business model that no companies can afford to ignore.

Hong Kong is well known for its entrepreneurial spirit as well as its readiness to adapt to changes and new developments.

In the past 12 months, our home-grown IT businesses have flourished. Some of them are gradually emerging from their cramped offices to become major players on the world map.

For instance, one successful Hong Kong IT entrepreneur, who got his start through our Applied Research Fund, has developed Asia's first cost-effective Internet access solution with broadband capability for the hotel industry. This is a value-added service that hotels can introduce without costly and disruptive rewiring; and provide their guests with high speed communications.

The company's clientele now includes hotels in five major Asian cities. Its valuation has more than doubled in the past few months, and the company has attracted further investment from major investment banks.

And here's another example, this time involving a combination of biotechnology and manufacturing. A breakthrough technology at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has made commercial application of a recombinant protein viable.

This in turn has resulted in a local company applying the technology to develop a very successful cosmetics business. Other different commercial applications are in the pipeline. And the original project at HKUST was supported by the Industrial Support Fund, which is now part of our new Innovation and Technology Fund.

I highlight these two examples just to give you a glimpse of what we are doing in Hong Kong right across the technology and innovation spectrum.

We have the people, we have the ideas and there is virtually no limit to what can be achieved. I hope Innovation 2000 - The Millennium Frontier will challenge your mind to those opportunities.

Thank you.

End/Friday, November 26, 1999

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