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A total of 338 applications for funding support under the 2006 Hong Kong/Guangdong Technology Co-operation Funding Scheme had been received when applications closed on September 29.
¡§During the application period from August 9 to September 29, 2006, the Hong Kong side received 62 applications while the Guangdong side received 276 applications,¡¨ a spokesman for the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) said today (October 9).
The funding scheme, first launched in 2004 by the Hong Kong/Guangdong Expert Group on Co-operation in Innovation and Technology, serves to enhance the collaboration between research and development (R&D) institutions and industry, and the upgrading of the industry in the Greater Pearl River Delta region.
¡§In the past two years, the governments of Guangdong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have supported about 200 R&D projects with a total funding of $660 million. In view of the favourable response, the Expert Group agreed that the scheme should be launched in 2006 and the two sides have earmarked about $800 million to support R&D projects,¡¨ the spokesman said.
Six key technology areas - information and communications technology; precision manufacturing technologies and products; new materials and nanotechnology; biomedicine and health; new energy and resources conservation; and modern agriculture - will be supported under the 2006 scheme.
¡§These technology areas are relevant to the needs of the industry and will enhance economic development in the Greater Pearl River Delta region,¡¨ the spokesman said.
Applications made by institutions established in Hong Kong as the principal applicant will be processed by ITC of the HKSAR Government, while applications made by institutions established in the Guangdong Province as the principal applicant will be processed by the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province.
Details of the scheme can be found on the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) website (www.itf.gov.hk). Further information can be obtained from the ITF Secretariat at 20/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen¡¦ s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Tel: 2737 2229; Fax: 2957 8726; Email: enquiry@itf.gov.hk).
Ends/Monday, October 9, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:46
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