Motion: ” Seizing strategic opportunities to promote the integrated development of education, technology and talents in Hong Kong”
Deputy President, momentous changes of a like not seen in a century are accelerating across the world. A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing fervently. It has become a general rule for cities around the globe to build innovation and technology (“I&T”) centres, among which the Cornell Tech in New York, the East London Tech City in London, and the Tsukuba Science City in Tokyo are all world-renowned innovation parks. The development of an international I&T centre is also an important strategic direction for Hong Kong. It can help Hong Kong to rebuild its core competitiveness as a global city, and it is also a must for Hong Kong to make up for the shortcomings in its development.
To promote the development of Hong Kong into an I&T centre, the Chief Executive proposed a series of measures in last year’s Policy Address, focusing on fostering close collaboration among “the Government and the industry, academia, research and investment sectors”. At the same time, the Chief Executive announced the setting up of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents to take forward the relevant work. I would like to thank the Deputy President for moving the motion on “Seizing strategic opportunities to promote the integrated development of education, technology and talents in Hong Kong”, which is of great significance in promoting the development of Hong Kong as an I&T hub with global influence.
According to the Global Innovation Index 2024 published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”), Hong Kong ranks 18th among 133 economies in the world and 5th in Asia. Meanwhile, according to WIPO, the technology cluster comprising Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou has been ranked second in the world for five consecutive years. The above rankings not only recognize Hong Kong’s strengths and achievements in I&T, but also reflect the leading position of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the global I&T arena and the major momentum created by its synergistic development. Hong Kong should continue to adopt the open and collaborative development model and explore the use of innovation clusters to promote the development of a global I&T centre.
The Government is an important promoter of the development of the I&T industry. The successes of various regions around the world in developing the I&T industry can invariably be attributed to the proactive planning and promotion of their governments. I suggest that the SAR Government should attract more venture capital firms to come to Hong Kong and participate in the “I&T Venture Fund”, so as to provide funding support to local I&T start-ups. At the same time, the Government and the regulators should also encourage financial institutions to diversify their I&T loans and financing products (e.g. intellectual property (“IP”) mortgage loans, etc.), and consider providing tax incentives and concession policies, including providing more preferential tax deductions and incentives for research and development (“R&D”) expenses and IP revenues of technology-based enterprises, to attract more top international technology companies and start-ups around the world to set up R&D headquarters and regional headquarters in Hong Kong. In addition, the Government can take the lead in organizing I&T competitions to encourage sponsorship and participation by business organizations of different sizes, and consider providing tax concessions to sponsoring enterprises so as to encourage more enterprises to provide commercial sponsorship to the I&T industry.
In addition, local universities should continue to be encouraged to organize science and technology innovation activities to showcase Hong Kong’s latest achievements in technological innovation and industry-academia-research collaboration, such as I&T carnivals, roadshows, promotional seminars and sharing sessions, so as to develop branded events featuring Hong Kong’s science and technology innovation, and make use of these brands to set up joint university-enterprise laboratories with leading enterprises, sign more cooperation agreements, and jointly promote the transformation of technological outcomes.
The establishment of an I&T centre must be based on making optimal use of our best strengths. The higher education sector plays an important role in Hong Kong’s innovation system. We should give full play to the innovation-leading role of Hong Kong’s renowned universities. With our renowned universities as the core, we should increase investment in scientific research and encourage teachers and students to carry out worthwhile research. At the same time, we should proactively promote the commercialization of innovative technologies, support universities and high-tech companies in jointly setting up R&D centres, and establish universities as an important engine of technological innovation and industrial upgrading. In this regard, I think Prof CHOW Man-kong’s amendment is very practical in proposing to remove the restrictions imposed by universities on their teaching and research staff in conducting the commercialization of scientific research outcomes.
Deputy President, Hong Kong has already gained a foothold in the global technological innovation arena by virtue of its ability to pool international resources and its strong scientific research capabilities. In the future, I hope that we will continue to capitalize on our combined strengths and become an important force in leading global technological innovation.
I support the original motion and the amendments. I so submit.