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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the opening ceremony of the Second Phase of NTT Communications Hong Kong Financial Data Center today (December 9):
Mr Shoji (President and Chief Executive Officer of NTT Communications, Mr Tetsuya Shoji), Mr Nakata (Senior Executive Vice President of NTT Communications, Mr Katsumi Nakata), Mr Tanaka (Senior Vice President of Cloud Services of NTT Communications, Mr Motoo Tanaka), Mr Maeda (President and Chief Executive Officer of NTT Com Asia Limited, Mr Takanobu Maeda), Fanny (Chairperson of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Mrs Fanny Law), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon and good evening. It gives me great pleasure in joining you today at the opening ceremony of the second phase of Hong Kong Financial Data Center.
You all know that, last Wednesday, I attended the Legislative Council meeting for the first time as the Secretary for Innovation and Technology to answer question on the development of data centres in Hong Kong. As I pointed out in my reply, data centres are part of the key infrastructure for a knowledge-based economy. They play a pivotal role in the development of our information and communications technology sector.
Hong Kong is a prime location for developing data centres in the Asia-Pacific region and is now the largest data centre hub in Asia. With our proximity to the Mainland of China, Hong Kong businesses are well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand for secure data centre services, riding on the growth of e-business, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
Our robust information infrastructure is among the most sophisticated and advanced, with submarine and overland cable systems connected to other parts of the world. We have a highly stable power supply, with reliability exceeding 99.999 per cent. Our Internet connection speed ranked second in the world.
And above all, Hong Kong has a pro-business environment. We allow free flow of capital, information and knowledge. We have a simple taxation regime. We offer effective protection of data privacy and information security.
Although land is very scarce in Hong Kong, we have made every effort in the past few years to make available suitable land for data centre development, from greenfield data centre sites to conversion of existing industrial buildings. Currently, 19 hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O and Tai Po Industrial Estates have been deployed for building high-tier data centres, with an additional three hectares of land in Tseung Kwan O earmarked for future use. Thanks to these efforts, the total gross floor area for data centre use in Hong Kong will increase to about 660 000 square metres, to meet market demand in the next few years.
Recently multinational corporations have switched their strategy amidst the fast-changing business environment. In addition to building their dedicated facilities, they also hire service capacity from existing data operators, and I know some of the most well-known multinationals are working with local operators in Hong Kong. That said, the HKSAR Government will continue to explore different means to make available more suitable land for data centre use in Hong Kong such as through the development of caverns.
With the opening of the second phase facilities today, the Hong Kong Financial Data Center plus facilities at Tai Po Industrial Estate and in Kwai Chung will provide a total gross floor area of over 90 000 square metres, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of current total data centre supply in Hong Kong. I wish to thank NTT Communications for selecting Hong Kong as its partner in global data centre development. I look forward to your continued support and investment in the development of high value-added industries in Hong Kong.
Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:56
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