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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the Visionaries Connected - Entrepreneurship Conference organised by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University today (January 15):
Tim (President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Professor Timothy Tong), Alwin (Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship, Dr Alwin Wong), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. I know it's an early morning and it's a rainy morning. It's a great pleasure to be back at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to join the opening of the Entrepreneurship Conference. I am both excited and encouraged to see an ensemble of students, educators, entrepreneurs and innovators gathering here today.
Echoing the theme of today's conference, apart from "Doing Well", I know many of the entrepreneurs today chose a high-risk career to also "Do Good" to the community.
An increasingly vibrant start-up community is forming in Hong Kong. Today, we have more than 40 incubators, accelerators or co-working spaces in Hong Kong, mostly run by the private sector. Compared to only three incubators about five years ago, Hong Kong has been nurturing a significantly larger pool of entrepreneurs who can contribute to our innovation and technology development. Now we must keep this momentum going and growing, especially for our young people.
We all know that innovation and technology could diversify the economy, provide wider and better employment opportunities, and enhance the competitiveness and growth of our economy. But innovation and technology can also improve people's quality of life and help on social development as well.
We believe there are certain roles that the Government can play in creating the right environment for innovative business models and game-changing solutions to emerge. Conferences such as this one today certainly complement government efforts to create a more vibrant innovation culture in Hong Kong.
Now we've all seen that the Chief Executive in his 2016 Policy Address devoted a specific chapter to innovation and technology, announcing a series of new measures. The Innovation and Technology Bureau will press on full steam in the coming year to deliver on these initiatives. Our goal is to create not only the momentum for economic growth, but also better and broader employment opportunities for all. I would like to highlight two areas.
First, the Government will set up a $2 billion Innovation and Technology Venture Fund to co-invest in the innovation and technology ventures with private venture capital firms. We hope that the new Fund, which I call the "smart money", would help to create a sustainable venture funding ecosystem here in Hong Kong, particularly to fill the gap between the seed and the Series A rounds. This will enhance the deal flow in local innovation start-ups, which could then attract more international investors to Hong Kong. As you all know, Cyberport will contribute $200 million to launch a new Cyberport Macro Fund to complement the Government's effort.
Second, the Government will set up a dedicated $2 billion fund to encourage our universities to carry out more mid-stream applied research. This new fund will provide additional resources, on top of the UGC (University Grants Committee)/RGC (Research Grants Council) funding and the existing Innovation and Technology Fund, for our tertiary institutions to focus on translational and applied R&D (research and development). Our universities' professors, researchers and students are known to be amongst the best in the world. Through this translational funding we hope to unlock the value of the best scientific and engineering minds in Hong Kong, to find solutions and products to address the needs of the market and the community.
Let's not forget Hong Kong's unique role as the "super-connector" between the Mainland and the rest of the world. We are able to attract top-tier research institutions and companies from all over the world, and with them the great talents who are the drivers of innovation. In addition, our strength as an international trade and financial centre, with a robust legal system and the full protection for intellectual property rights, makes Hong Kong well-placed to become a true innovation and technology hub.
My goal as the Secretary for Innovation and Technology is to work with people like the ones here today, to create an ecosystem and to build a culture where innovation, technology, persistence and the ability to regenerate ourselves can make Hong Kong thrive and prosper.
Finally, I would like to thank Professor Tong for inviting me to this meaningful event. I hope everyone here will benefit greatly from the conference here today, meet more people, make new friends, and join me and others to do well and do good for Hong Kong's future.
Thank you.
Ends/Friday, January 15, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:10
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