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Hong Kong's academic research and education on biological science and medicine had a good reputation and ranked among the best in the Asia-Pacific region, the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Mr Duncan Pescod, said today (March 11).
Speaking at the Hong Kong Denmark Joint Conference on Nanomedicine and Synthetic Biology at Hong Kong Science Park, Mr Pescod said today's conference marked a step towards closer collaboration on science and technology as a direct result of the collaboration agreement on science and technology signed by Hong Kong and Denmark in May 2009.
"Under the agreement, biotechnology and medical life science, nanotechnology and advanced materials, solar energy and energy efficiency were identified as areas where our initial collaboration efforts are most likely to bear fruit," he added.
Deputy Director General, Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Hans Mˆ¢ller Pedersen, said the co-operation agreement was an important point to enhance the exchange of knowledge between Hong Kong and Denmark.
As a follow-up to this agreement, the Hong Kong and Danish governments have jointly organised the conference to explore the latest issues in the development of nanotechnology and synthetic biology.
The conference is part of a three-day exchange programme jointly organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission and the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to take forward the Memorandum of Understanding.
Under the programme, a business matching event will be held tomorrow (March 12) to bring together biotech companies from Hong Kong and Denmark to explore opportunities for business and technology co-operation.
Mr Pescod said Hong Kong's scientific contributions in genomic projects, and the identification and characterisation of emerging infectious diseases with special reference to the work on SARS and the avian flu virus, were widely acknowledged by the international research community.
He noted that in recognition of Hong Kong's scientific achievements and research prominence, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China had approved the establishment of a total of 12 Partner State Key Laboratories in five local universities.
The State Key Laboratories serve as the national base for the highest level of research and development as well as catalysts for scholarly exchange.
Mr Pescod said, "Hong Kong also has two excellent medical schools rated among the best in the world in the field of clinical medicine."
He said, "Our nanotech research is equally competitive. Indeed, it is a little known fact that Hong Kong is the birthplace of the world's smallest single walled carbon nanotubes."
Mr Pescod said that the Government had set up a $5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund, which had supported over 200 biotechnology and nanotechnology projects, with funding commitment close to $760million.
Another major source of research funding for nanotechnology, biology and medical research is the Research Grants Council, which emphasises basic and upstream research. In 2009/2010, the Council awarded over $166 million to 171 biology and medicine-related research projects.
Ends/Thursday, March 11, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:01
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