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Following is the speech (English only) by the Financial Secretary, Antony Leung, at the Award Presentation Ceremony of the 2002 Hong Kong Awards for Industry at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this (October 15) evening:
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here this evening to celebrate the excellent achievements of the award winners of this year's Hong Kong Awards for Industry. You all have come a long way in enhancing competitiveness and adding values to your products and services. You are the cream of Hong Kong's manufacturing industries. We are proud of your achievements.
In the past few years, partly because of Government's advocacy and partly as a result of keen competition, more and more companies in Hong Kong are aware of the importance of innovativeness as a driving force to improve competitiveness. And there have been ample success stories, including the winners of this year's Hong Kong Awards for Industry. These stories are testimony to the ability of Hong Kong companies in applying their creativity and innovativeness to their products and services.
Some people are under the misconception that only big companies can be innovative. There is another misconception that innovativeness must ride on cutting-edge technologies. Both misconceptions should be debunked.
First, some innovative companies nowadays are big companies because they have been innovative from the outset. Innovativeness makes them grow bigger and stronger, not the other way round. In fact, small companies are in certain ways much better positioned to be innovative, because of their smaller size, greater flexibility and more diversified company culture.
Second, an individual does not need to be a genius scientist or technologist to be innovative. Innovation often comes from seeing the obvious with fresh eyes. Indeed, many of the greatest inventions that have profoundly improved our way of life are accidental discoveries. Microwave oven, penicillin and Gore-Tex are but a few examples.
What matters most to a company in its quest to become an innovative organisation is the mindset. And, it is because of this that I am confident that Hong Kong companies could remain competitive in a knowledge-based economy. Hong Kong's manufacturing industries have all along been very successful in re-inventing themselves to meet the challenges and opportunities in the past. Our entrepreneurs have a long and fine reputation of being adaptive, flexible and open-minded.
We all know that the formula which worked in the past may not necessarily bring us the same degree of success in future. Hong Kong manufacturers have been very successful as original equipment manufacturers (OEM). But, as competition in OEM activities becomes keener and keener, and profit margins keep narrowing, Hong Kong manufacturers are changing to re-position themselves. To remain competitive and successful, Hong Kong companies are moving up the value chain and evolving into original design manufacturers (ODM) or original brand manufacturers (OBM).
The opening up of the market in the Mainland of China has in fact provided Hong Kong companies with a good opportunity to establish their own brand names in a market many times bigger than our own. I have confidence that they will be able to compete with international companies in many areas, but of course they have to stay close to the customers and, as I said before, offer products with creativity, quality and speed.
The Government is committed to supporting the Hong Kong manufacturing sector. We have implemented a number of policy initiatives in the past few years. For example, we established a $5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund to support projects that contribute to innovation and technology upgrading in our local industry. We set up an Applied Research Fund to provide equity financing to technology-driven companies to embark on R&D projects that can be commercialized. We opened Phase One of the Science Park and the Cyberport, both top-class infrastructure, earlier this year to create a focal point and a conducive environment for technology-based firms and talents.
And we are helping SMEs to enhance competitiveness. We have set up four SME funding schemes with a total commitment of $7.5 billion to help SMEs enhance productivity, upgrade human resources and expand Mainland and overseas markets. We are bringing forward a review of the four schemes to ensure that they serve their purposes. Through the Trade and Industry Department, we are also providing SMEs with a whole range of professional advice on how to run businesses more successfully.
I pledge the Government will continue to do what it can to provide a business friendly environment for industrialists and businessmen. But at the end of the day, doing business is the business of businessmen. They, and they alone, must determine the road map of their companies and their industries.
The entrants for this year's awards confirm my belief that there are great opportunities for Hong Kong's manufacturing industries, as long as we make good use of the creativity, professional knowledge, entrepreneurial skills, and innovative capabilities of the Hong Kong people. All of you have demonstrated that success in manufacturing - like success in many other sectors - does not come from standing still. It comes from constant innovation, and investment in new products, new designs, new production technologies, and new management practices.
I am sure you are eager to get on with the main part of the evening - the prize giving. So I'd like to finish by saying again how pleased I am to be here this evening to add my support and congratulations, not only to the winners, but also to all who have entered the competition. You are the best of Hong Kong. I hope that all of you enjoy the rest of the evening and I wish you all the best of in the future.
Thank you.
End/Tuesday, October 15, 2002
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