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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Berlin, of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region held a reception-cum-presentation in Geneva on Wednesday (September 23, Geneva Time) when the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Stephen Selby, gave a presentation on the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights in Hong Kong.
In the opening remarks, Director of HKETO, Berlin, Mr Stephen Wong Kai-yi, pointed out that Hong Kong was the second most competitive economy in the world according to the newly released World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2009 by the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne.
"According to the WCY 2009, intellectual property rights make up an important criterion for the competitiveness of an economy. Hong Kong is equipped with an excellent legal infrastructure which ensures that intellectual property rights are adequately enforced," Mr Wong said.
"As knowledge-intensive industry plays an important role in the Swiss economy, the protection of IP is a topic of keen interest to Swiss businesses as well as the wider business community in Europe. It is very timely that Mr Selby is visiting Switzerland and can share with those who are interested in the markets in the Mainland of China and Asia his insights on this issue."
Mr Wong also briefed the guests on the latest economic situation in Hong Kong. He said, "The Hong Kong economy rebounded in the second quarter, benefiting from the faster growth of the economy of the Mainland of China and the waning of recessionary forces of trading partners and the Government's relief measures amounted to about EUR8.7 billion, 5.2% of our GDP.
"Our GDP resumed growth at 3.3% compared with the last quarter. Total employment stabilised in the second quarter, thereby helping to slow the pace of increase in the unemployment rate. Consumer sentiment also recovered with a 4% growth in private consumption compared with the last quarter.
"The Government has also proactively stepped up efforts to foster the longer-term growth and development of the economy. Following the final meeting of the Task Force on Economic Challenges on June 22, 2009, the Government gave full support to the Task Force's recommendations of adopting targeted policies and measures to help develop the six knowledge-based industries which are considered to have good potential and a competitive edge."
In his presentation entitled "Classic IP, Pop IP and New Wave IP", Mr Selby said, "IP is a vital tool in modern management; but for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) working in the Asian region, it is a difficult tool to learn and operate."
He pointed out that "SMEs in Hong Kong operate in a tough environment, often involving more than one intellectual property regime. For example, in Hong Kong and the Mainland of China, intellectual property laws, administration and enforcement are all different.
"Hong Kong has studied experiences in Europe - particularly in Scotland - to develop a new approach to assist SMEs in evaluating their enterprise knowledge and protecting it effectively. This approach, called Intellectual Capital Management (ICM), dovetails closely with intellectual property management, but provides additional tools other than traditional legal ones that help SMEs avoid pitfalls, reduce business risk and increase their competitiveness," Mr Selby said.
"Hong Kong has introduced an ICM programme for SMEs and it has been a huge success. More than 220 SMEs have taken part since March", he added.
"Hong Kong SMEs have found ICM a useful tool for reducing their risks and understanding the true value of their enterprise. Because ICM's focus is not on IP law, SME bosses are able to help themselves prevent IP infringement, rather than try to solve infringement problems after they have taken place."
The presentation ended with a questions-and-discussion session, followed by a dinner. This is the first business event organised by HKETO, Berlin, in Switzerland after it started operations in March 2009. More than 50 representatives from international organisations in Geneva, diplomatic missions, the Swiss federal government, the chamber of commerce as well as business and professional sectors attended the presentation and dinner followed by media interviews.
Ends/Friday, September 25, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:51
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