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Following is the speech by the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, Miss Janet Wong, at the plaque unveiling ceremony of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) today (June 22):
Professor (Tony) Chan, Professor (Nancy) Ip, Mr Li Ling, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Today I am indeed most honoured to be here on this occasion to celebrate the awarding of State Key Laboratory status to HKUST Molecular Neuroscience State Key Laboratory.
As the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, I am absolutely delighted to see this happening in Hong Kong. Indeed, the Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience is one of the new State Key Laboratory Partner Laboratories approved under the first round of the application exercise jointly coordinated by the Hong Kong Government and the national Ministry of Science and Technology. Conferment of State Key Laboratory Partner Laboratory status is national recognition of HKUST's capability in setting up high quality research and providing a world-class environment for conducting research and experiment.
The new laboratory will certainly provide an ideal and valuable training ground for our young scientists to gain research experience. I also congratulate HKUST for reaching a partnership agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Laboratory of Neuroscience in Shanghai, which certainly will further extend HKUST's already rich R&D network on the Mainland.
With innovation and technology becoming one of the six areas in which Hong Kong has a competitive edge and the Government is strongly promoting, I look forward to continued support from HKUST in turning world-class technology knowhow into real-life applications for the benefit of Hong Kong's economic and social development.
Riding on the success of the State Key Laboratory application arrangement and the Ministry of Science and Technology's latest decision this January to allow research institutes set up by Hong Kong's universities on the Mainland to apply directly for projects under the national "973" scheme, the Hong Kong Government will continue to work closely with the Ministry with a view to further enhancing the presence of Hong Kong's scientists in the national science and technology development programme. In particular, we would like to see how Hong Kong's scientists could further contribute to the country with more direct participation in the forthcoming National 12th Five-Year Plan.
Today's ceremony is really a very memorable occasion and I am very confident that under the leadership of Professor Chan and Professor Ip, and the outstanding scholars of HKUST, the laboratory will certainly achieve a lot more in the years to come.
Ends/Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:46
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