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Hong Kong: Asia's ICT hub (with photo)
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     Hong Kong was ranked internationally the first in technological infrastructure in both 2012 and 2013 in the World Competitiveness Yearbook issued by the International Institute for Management Development. Hong Kong's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure is also recognised as one of the most cloud-ready in the world, according to the Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto, Miss Gloria Lo.

     Speaking today (January 15, Toronto time) at a networking breakfast seminar jointly organised by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association in Toronto, Miss Lo described Hong Kong as the Asian hub for ICT. "The ICT sector in Hong Kong is supported by our top-notch ICT infrastructure, a strong pool of professionals and our tech-savvy population. There are lots of advantages as well as potential for ICT business in the city," she said.

     According to the latest statistics, Hong Kong's mobile phone penetration rate exceeds 230 per cent while its household broadband penetration rate reaches 84 per cent. Hong Kong's average peak internet connection speed (65.1Mbps) is also regarded as the fastest in the world.  At the same time, Hong Kong enjoys among the highest penetration of public Wi-Fi in the world, with around 10 000 hotspots providing completely or partially free Wi-Fi services in the territory.

     "Hong Kong enjoys free flow of information with no censorship on content transmission," said Miss Lo. "The telecommunications market in the city is fully liberalised and there are no restrictions on foreign ownership. To provide a level-playing field as well as a pro-competition and pro-consumer regulatory regime in the telecommunications market, non-exclusive licences are available for various telecommunications, internet and value-added services for market access by overseas companies. Hong Kong is indeed a good test bed for apps and new solutions."

     Hong Kong is an ideal location for setting up data centre with relatively less exposure to natural disasters, highly reliable power supply, superb telecommunication networks and low cost of ICT usage. "We also have strong protection of privacy of personal data and information security. There are now more than fifty high-tier data centres in Hong Kong, including big names from the Mainland and the overseas," Miss Lo added.

     Under the bilateral free trade agreement, Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement(CEPA), Hong Kong enjoys easy access to the fast growing ICT markets in the Mainland. "There is great potential for cloud computing business with the promotion by the government. At the same time, our collaboration with the Mainland in the ICT sector would generate new demand for data centres services, which are the backbone of cloud computing," Miss Lo said.

     Last Year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government introduced the "Smarter Hong Kong, Smarter Living" as the theme of the new edition of the Digital 21 Strategy. It sets out the framework for Hong Kong to leverage on new technologies to propel continuous economic development, build platforms for sharing and collaboration, deliver intuitive and integrated e-services to the public, and foster a thriving ICT industry. It also seeks to collaborate more closely with the Mainland on cross-boundary e-commerce facilitation and joint projects. The public consultation was completed last year and the details will be announced later this year.

     The upcoming International IT Fest in Hong Kong will provide an excellent opportunity for business networking and exchanges of most updated market information and intelligence in IT sector among the business professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world.  Last year, the Fest had 603 exhibitors with over 20 Canadian companies, six from Ontario. Over 12 300 Hong Kong buyers came to look at the newest ICT solutions.  This year, the Canadian ICT Trade Mission to Hong Kong will be held between April 12 and 17. The HKTDC invites digital companies from Ontario to join the mission and showcase their services or products as exhibitors under the Canadian Pavilion at the event. Further information can be found at www.itfest.hk/14/en. For all inquiries about the Trade Mission, please contact Adrian Cheng by adrian.ch.cheng@hktdc.org or 416-366-3594.

Ends/Thursday, January 16, 2014
Issued at HKT 10:05

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