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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Chiang Lai-wan and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (October 24):
Question:
It has been reported that the Chief Executive has indicated earlier that despite many people's mistaken belief that business in Hong Kong is always thriving and there is no need to worry, there has been a decline in the retail and tourism figures recently, showing that there are hidden worries in Hong Kong's economy. He hopes that he can reverse the economic situation of Hong Kong in the latter half of his term of office. Some members of the trade have pointed out that as "Made in Hong Kong" is an international brand name, many foreigners and mainlanders are very confident in the products made in Hong Kong. In order to enhance the inherent position of the manufacturing industry of Hong Kong, they have suggested that the Hong Kong Government should strive to develop diversification of industries and, in particular, develop Hong Kong into a "pharmaceutical centre", as well as attract world-renowned pharmaceutical manufacturers through the preferential policy under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement to produce and manufacture pharmaceutical products in Hong Kong in order to enter the vast mainland market, and mainland pharmaceutical manufacturers may have their pharmaceutical products produced and tested in Hong Kong for export to various places in the world. As a result, more job opportunities will be created and the Gross Domestic Product of Hong Kong will increase significantly, which will allow the Government to formulate more measures that benefit the people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the gross value of production and export figures of Hong Kong's pharmaceutical industry in the past three years;
(b) of the total number of pharmaceutical manufacturers in Hong Kong at present; among such manufacturers, the number of those which have set up production plants in industrial estates, broken down by industrial estate; the percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of companies in the industrial estates concerned; whether it knows the difficulties faced by pharmaceutical manufacturers in the past 10-odd years; the progress made by the Government in developing the testing and certification industry and the medical services industry, which are among the six industries being developed by the Government; whether it has conducted extensive promotion and publicity campaigns; if it has, of the details; if not, how the Government will enhance the development of such industries; and
(c) of the specific policies to be put in place in the future to facilitate the development of the pharmaceutical industry, so as to develop Hong Kong into the pharmaceutical centre of the Asia Pacific Region?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) According to figures provided by the Census and Statistics Department, the gross domestic output of the industry of manufacture of Chinese medicines was HK$1.94, $2.03 and $1.93 billion respectively in 2008, 2009 and 2010. For western drugs, we understand that local licensed manufacturers are mainly engaged in the manufacture of non-patented drugs for domestic sale. The Census and Statistics Department does not have figures on the gross domestic output of the industry of manufacture of western drugs.
Regarding the export figures, the total value of domestic exports of the Hong Kong pharmaceutical industry (including western drugs and Chinese medicines) was HK$1.95, HK$2.27 and HK$2.49 billion respectively in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Detailed figures are set out in Annex.
(b) There are currently a total of 25 licensed manufacturers of western drugs and 293 licensed manufacturers of proprietary Chinese medicines (pCm) in Hong Kong. Among these drug manufacturers, there are respectively eight and six pharmaceutical companies which have set up or plan to set up a total of 22 manufacturing plants in Tai Po Industrial Estate and Yuen Long Industrial Estate, accounting for 13% of the total number of manufacturing plants in the three Industrial Estates.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) has been adopted in Hong Kong since 2002 to facilitate regularisation of the western drug manufacturing industry and ensure the quality and safety of pharmaceutical products. In the light of the drug incidents in early 2009, the Review Committee on Regulation of Pharmaceutical Products in Hong Kong put forward 75 recommendations, including upgrading Hong Kong's current GMP licensing standards to Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S) within four years so as to enhance the standards of local drug manufacturers.
As for Chinese medicines, the Chief Executive announced in his 2010-11 Policy Address that a timetable for mandatory compliance with GMP for manufacture of pCm would be worked out to keep up with the international trends of developing GMP for medicines. Since last year, the Chinese Medicines Board has been in wide consultation with the Chinese medicines trade to gather their views on the timetable and specific arrangements through various channels such as briefings and attending meetings with Chinese medicine associations. The Chinese Medicine Development Committee, which will shortly be established, will also focus its discussion and put forward recommendations to the Government on how to strengthen the research and development (R&D) of Chinese medicine and the development of the Chinese medicines industry.
For manufacturers of pCm and western drugs, how to effectively enhance production quality level is the greatest challenge currently faced by the industry. The industry is generally concerned about the financial implications, availability of suitable sites for manufacturing plants, technological support and training of qualified persons, etc. required for the implementation of GMP standards.
The Government will continue to liaise closely with the trade and offer assistance, examine in detail the local industry's need for the relevant infrastructure, and review the existing operation of the Science Park and Industrial Estates to see how we could facilitate development and provide support in this regard, so as to enhance the GMP standards of manufacturers of western drugs and facilitate pCm manufacturers to comply with the GMP requirements in a gradual and progressive manner.
Regarding the development of testing and certification, the Government set up the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification (HKCTC) in September 2009 in an effort to promote the development of the industry. The Government has been in close collaboration with HKCTC to put forward the three-year market-oriented development plan proposed by HKCTC in 2010 through a dual approach by, on the general front, making improvements to the accreditation services and the factors of production (i.e. manpower, technology, capital and land) for the testing and certification industry whilst setting up Working Group for each of the four selected trades (including Chinese medicines), for focused promotion and development of testing and certification services. HKCTC has always been in support of the development of testing and certification services for Chinese herbal medicines, including enhancing the local authentication capabilities for Chinese herbal medicines through technology and manpower training, as well as promoting development of a Product Certification Scheme for Chinese herbal medicines, which will help the Chinese medicines trade in product quality assurance.
(c) To further promote the development of Hong Kong's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, it is necessary to promote the R&D of Chinese medicines products and western drugs. The Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) under the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) aims to provide support to the applied R&D projects initiated by the industry and the R&D sector. R&D work for the manufacture of western drugs and traditional Chinese medicines is covered under the category of "Biotechnology" under ITF. As at August this year, over HK$6.8 billion has been approved under ITF to provide funding for more than 2 900 projects, of which around 240 are biotechnology-related projects, involving funding commitment of over HK$500 million. Projects related to the development of drug manufacturing industry cover development of new drugs, modernisation of traditional Chinese medicines, improvement of drug formulas, development of new drug delivery systems, conduct of clinical trials, development of drug manufacturing processes and quality control methods, etc.
The Government will continue to providing an environment conducive to the development of biotechnology so as to develop Hong Kong into a centre of innovation and technology, thereby increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the local manufacturing industry.
Ends/Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:56
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