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The development of innovation and technology was a high priority in Hong Kong, the Principal Representative of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo), Mrs Jennie Chok, said today (August 30).
This was apart from maintaining and building on Hong Kong¡¦s traditional strengths in financial and professional services, logistics and tourism, Mrs Chok said.
She was speaking at a seminar for electronics enterprises in Japan organised by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks.
¡§We consider innovation and technology to be essential elements for enhancing creativity and productivity. It adds value to commerce and industry, and is also important for building human capital to meet the needs of a knowledge-based economy,¡¨ Mrs Chok said.
¡§In the process of developing our innovation and technology capabilities, we work to provide an environment conducive to the growth of high value-adding and high technology industries in Hong Kong that are consistent with the demands of the market."
She said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government did this through a programme of government funding and infrastructural support.
On the funding side, Mrs Chok said the Government had set up the Innovation and Technology Fund to support projects that contributed to innovation and technology upgrading in the industry.
¡§Of the total project funding spent so far, well over 50% went to research and development (R&D) projects from the electrical/electronics and information technology (IT) sectors,¡¨ Mrs Chok said.
On infrastructural support, Mrs Chok said the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks established in 2001 provided state-of-the-art facilities and services to support the development of technology-based enterprises.
In addition to the Science Park, she said Cyberport and the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute also helped to create a critical mass of research and professional talent in Hong Kong.
¡§More recently, the HKSAR Government has started a R&D Centre Programme to further promote innovation and technology development in Hong Kong and enhance the competitiveness of our industry.
¡§Five R&D centres in identified priority technology areas including information and communications technologies, and logistics and supply chain management-enabling technologies, have been set up, as a result of extensive research and consultation on the demands of our industrialists and investors, especially those using the Pearl River Delta as an industry base,¡¨ she said.
¡§The Pearl River Delta, which has become one of the most efficient production bases in the world, is an ideal platform for commercialisation of applied R&D deliverables. Manufacturing firms there are striving to improve their productivity and increasing the value of their products. This results in a growing demand for innovation and technology. Due to our proximity and cultural similarities with the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong is well positioned to benefit from this rising demand, and the tremendous business opportunities that result from it.
¡§Technology institutions and companies are welcome to join the R&D Centre Programme as research partners, project investors or research users,¡¨ Mrs Chok said.
On the electronics industry, Mrs Chok said it was one of the major contributors to Hong Kong¡¦s economic growth, and was also Hong Kong¡¦s largest export earner, accounting for almost half of the HKSAR¡¦s aggregate export.
¡§And as far as the Mainland China market is concerned, exports of electrical and electronic products, like all other products of Hong Kong origin, now enjoy tariff-free treatment under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and the Mainland,¡¨ she said.
Mrs Chok also pointed out that one of the five new R&D Centres in Hong Kong was in the area of information and communications technologies (ICT), which may be regarded as the backbone of the electronics industry.
¡§That R&D Centre aims to develop high-value, next generation ICT products, devices and component applications that are relevant to the industries in Mainland China.¡¨
Mrs Chok said Hong Kong had a robust intellectual property right protection regime and free flow of information backed up by a well-respected legal system.
¡§With our emerging R&D strength, sophisticated technological infrastructure and increasing opportunities presented by CEPA, Hong Kong is an ideal base for conducting high-end, high-value added business activities as well as for conducting intellectual asset trading and commercialisation.¡¨
¡§I look forward to seeing more Japanese companies making use of the opportunities that we provide,¡¨she said.
Ends/Thursday, August 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:00
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