John Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong government
HONG KONG, 20 OCTOBER 2008 – Total R&D expenditure in Hong Kong has reached about HK$12 billion (US$1.55 billion), according to the data for 2006 released by the Census and Statistics Department.
The R&D expenditure above represented an increase of 70 per cent over 2001, said John Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong government, at the opening ceremony of the three-day InnoCarnival 08 at Hong Kong Science Park.
R&D expenditure by industry as compared to Hong Kong’s total R&D expenditure had increased from 29 per cent in 2001 to 53 per cent in 2006; and full-time R&D personnel have also increased from 11,000 in 2001 to 23,000 in 2006, said Tsang.
“The Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme [SERAP] supported by the Innovation and Technology Fund and the incubation programmes supported by the Hong Kong Science Parks Corporation, the Cyberport and the InnoCentre have been well received. They have nurtured new arrays of companies and talents in technology, digital entertainment and design, many of which have established firmly in the market and have achieved remarkable development,” Tsang said.
SERAP is a technology entrepreneurship programme that provides pre-venture capital stage financing to support technology entrepreneurs and small enterprises to conduct R&D work and market validation for businesses start-ups. Approved projects will be granted a HK$2 million (about US$257,000) fund on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis.
Up to 31 August 2008, 366 information technology projects have been approved under the SERAP, with a total funding of HK$1.15 billion (about US$148 million) granted.
National level R&D
Hong Kong had enhanced collaboration with the Mainland in recent years, according to the financial secretary, and its achievements in R&D had been repeatedly recognised at the national level. Meanwhile, Hong Kong scientists have contributed to national technology development by actively participating in national technology projects. So far, Hong Kong universities have established five state key laboratories with the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Moreover, the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments have co-ordinated the R&D institutes of the two sides to carry out applied research and development together through the Guangdong-Hong Kong Technology Co-operation Funding Scheme. From 2004 to 2007, the two sides have supported about 670 projects in different technology fields with total funding of more than HK$1.6 billion (about US$206 million).
Tsang also said that the governments of Shenzhen and Hong Kong succeeded in May 2008 in getting DuPont, a renowned technology enterprise in the US, to locate its global business headquarters and its Solar Energy Thin Film Photovoltaic R&D Centre, in Hong Kong Science Park and its manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen. This is the first highlight project under the framework of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle.
Tsang said: “The market for renewable energy is huge. We believe that the location of DuPont in the Pearl River Delta will promote Hong Kong’s technology development, as well as giving impetus to developing related industries in Shenzhen, resulting in mutual benefits.”
He said he hoped that the community could quicken the pace of innovation and technology development to make Hong Kong the regional hub of innovation and technology services, to supplement the National 11th Five-Year Plan and to contribute to building an innovative nation.
