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Following is a speech on " Heading to the e-Challenges ahead Hong Kong " by Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, at the opening ceremony of the ACCA @ccountech One-day Conference 2001 today (June 16):
Mr Sun, The Honourable Eric Li, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here this morning to attend this very important conference and to have the opportunity to share with you some of the thinking behind the Government's strategy in meeting the e-challenges ahead for Hong Kong.
The emergence of IT was one of the most phenomenal developments in the 20th century. The way IT has swept the world and created a whole new way of life was nothing short of breathtaking. This revolution and the challenges that go with it are impacting on everyone of us today, and will be so in the foreseeable future. That's why we established the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau in 1998 to capitalise on the opportunities and address the challenges of IT in the new Information Age. We published our Digital 21 Strategy in November 1998 which sought to harness the use of IT and build the necessary infrastructure to support a thriving information economy.
Now, over two years down the track, we have put in place the essential information infrastructure for Hong Kong to develop as a leading digital city. We have -
* liberalised our telecommunications sector to make it one of the most open in the world;
* developed a world class telecommunications infrastructure;
* established a secure legal framework for the conduct of e-business;
* improved public sector efficiency by putting Government services online, particularly through the Electronic Service Delivery scheme;
* encouraged private sector innovation and nurtured a culture that thrives on creative e-business applications; and
* improved Hong Kong's international position as a leading digital economy.
Today, more than 50 per cent of our households has installed computer and over one-third of our population are Internet users. And they are connected to the world wide web through some 240 Internet Service Providers.
Hong Kong is one of the world's leading users of wireless technologies. We now have more mobile phones in use in Hong Kong than fixed telephone lines. And with a mobile penetration rate of almost 80 per cent, we are amongst the top in the world. This is matched by the circulation of over seven million e-money smart cards in the market for use in transport and retail transactions. As far as we know, this is the highest smart card utilisation in the world. Leading-edge technologies, such as 3G mobile communications, digital terrestrial TV and Next Generation Internet applications will come on stream in the near future, making Hong Kong one of the leading cities in exploiting technologies to drive economic growth.
The solid foundation we have laid in IT development has commanded overseas research agencies to adopt an optimistic outlook about Hong Kong's e-business potential. For example, Forrester Research has estimated that the e-business value of Hong Kong will grow from US$2 billion in 2000 to US$70 billion by 2004, one of the highest growth rates in the Asia Pacific region. The Economist Intelligence Unit has also ranked Hong Kong as one of the top places in the Asia Pacific in terms of e-business readiness.
But as we all know, today's innovations are tomorrow's antiques. We have witnessed rapid development in e-business globally in the past few years. This phenomenon drives the governments and private sectors all over the world to develop new policies and initiatives so as to maintain and enhance their competitiveness in the new Information Age. And this is why we promulgated last month our updated 2001 Digital 21 Strategy - Hong Kong: Connecting the World.
Focus of the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy
The 2001 Digital 21 Strategy capitalises on our early success in establishing a world class environment for the information economy. The key policy objective is to position Hong Kong as a leading e-business community and a premier digital city in the global information economy.
The strategy focuses on five key areas to improve Hong Kong's competitiveness in the changing world of technology. They are -
* enhancing the e-business environment
* building E-government
* developing the IT workforce
* strengthening the community for digital exploitation; and
* adopting enabling technologies.
These are all largely self-explanatory. But I will briefly outline some of our thinking on each of these strategic areas.
Strategic Areas
In enhancing the environment for e-business we will continue to uphold the pillars of our success - the rule of law, our low tax regime, a level playing field for business, free and open market, and the freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law. We will also strengthen our hardware and software to keep Hong Kong in the forefront of world IT development. The building of the Cyberport is our key IT flagship project that will put us firmly on the global IT map.
The Government is also taking a proactive approach in enhancing Hong Kong's e-culture by providing public services on-line. Renewing driving licences, submitting tax returns, making payment for Government bills and completing voter registration forms are just some of the Government services you can do online. And we will be looking at ways of expanding the service into areas such as e-procurement and other Government to Business and Government to Citizens transactions. We will build a successful E-government and we will set up a designated office to co-ordinate e-projects within the Government. We have targetted to provide e-option for 90 per cent of public services by end 2003.
In developing our human resources for the information economy, we have adopted a two-pronged approach - educating our young people with the necessary IT skills and attracting overseas and Mainland professionals to work in Hong Kong. A series of measures will be implemented. Facilitating leading overseas IT training institutions to establish operation in Hong Kong and providing professional IT training to secondary students are just some of the key initiatives to be cited.
By encouraging the wider use of IT in the community, we are safeguarding against the emergence of digital divide. Various initiatives have been implemented, targeting particularly at those who have less opportunities to use IT in their daily lives. For example, we are organising free training and awareness programmes for senior citizens, housewives and the disabled. We will also organise IT related activities at the neighbourhood level to sustain the interest of those people in the use of IT and enhance their capability to exploit opportunities in the digital world to enrich their lives.
The wider application of IT in future is expected to open up tremendous new business opportunities and pave the way for exciting developments in the way people communicate and interact with each other. We will continue to exploit advanced enabling technologies. Hong Kong has been an early and successful user of advanced technology, such as mobile telecommunications and smart cards. With our traditional role as a trading hub which matches demand and supply, new technologies tested in Hong Kong for commercial application will easily find their way to target users not only here, but in the rest of the region. We will focus on our efforts to drive the development of 3G applications, wireless technologies, smart card, Internet 2 and digital terrestrial television, etc.
Ladies and gentlemen. Our new programme of initiatives under the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy is target oriented, focused and structured with clear directions set. But Government's efforts alone are not sufficient. We look forward to active co-operation and collaboration with the industry, academia, professional bodies and the community in driving the Digital 21 Strategy.
On the financial and accounting side, there is plenty of scope for us to make use of IT to enhance Hong Kong's status as an international centre. Our Stock Exchange, for example, is a clear demonstration of how an advanced information infrastructure can enhance stock trading operation. Investors can now readily place orders through the Internet and mobile phone. Internet banking is another area with great potential and Hong Kong offers the best Internet banking services in the Asia-Pacific Region, as recently assessed by the Asian Banker Journal.
Ladies and gentlemen. We look to you, our accounting and financial professionals, to give the best advices to your clients as to how they can make use of technology and adoption of e-business to strengthen their competitiveness in the global information economy. And you, as the key professional group in driving Hong Kong's economy, should continuously upgrade your knowledge and expertise in the use of technology to enhance business operation so that you are in a well-equipped position to advise your clients, and to seize new business opportunities by branching into new markets, like conducting security audit on information systems.
All in all, the accounting and the financial profession has a crucial role to play in the new information economy and I look forward to working hand in hand with the ACCA in driving our way forward. With our concerted efforts, we will be able to meet the e-challenges ahead, and Hong Kong will be the premier digital city, connecting the world.
Thank you.
END/Saturday, June 16, 2001
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