HKPC Publishes 2004/05 Annual Report

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) published its 2004/05 Annual Report today (November 10, 2005).

The Hon Andrew Leung, Chairman of HKPC in his message published in the Council's 2004/05 Annual Report, said, "The Council moved into a new era of development by launching a timely five-year strategic plan to meet the changing needs of industry. In this landmark year, HKPC took all challenges in our stride and successfully achieved a smooth transition."

"In a new and better shape, with realigned directions and more focused objectives, the Council can now look forward to many exciting new ventures, including the management of the Automotive Parts & Accessory Systems R&D Centre at the end of 2005 and various new initiatives to promote technology commercialization," Mr Leung said.

"Established with funding from the HKSAR Government, the Centre will help Hong Kong automotive parts manufacturers tap the vast Mainland market opportunities arising from CEPA. It will provide a physical establishment to undertake market-led R&D programmes for the automotive parts industry and commercialize the R&D results with the collaboration of industry, universities and technology institutes. In addition, it will provide support services on product design, quality systems and technical skills with reference to international requirements," Mr Leung said.

"To pave the way for a coherent strategy of support for the developing automotive industry, HKPC swiftly set up an Automotive Industry Development Division to support the Centre's operations as well as the development of the sector at large," Mr Leung said.

Over the year, HKPC also provided businesses with the opportunity of acquiring the proprietary rights to HKPC-developed technologies. Mr Leung said, "The Council has set up the HKPC Technology (Holdings) Co Ltd as a vehicle for the commercialization of patents, technologies and project deliverables that have market potentials. The Company will contribute to Hong Kong's development of a new generation of technology-based economic activities by providing a more direct and effective avenue to turn R&D deliverables into saleable products. The financial returns of this Company will be ploughed back to HKPC to support the development of more technologies for commercialization. 12 of our 32 patents have been selected for pilot commercialization."

Speaking on the future direction of HKPC, Mr Leung said, "All these thrilling changes are taking place as HKPC moves into the 40th year of its operation in 2006. I have no doubt all our projects in the five-year plan will be promising and translate into great benefits for industry."

Highlighting HKPC's performance over the past fiscal year, Mr K K Yeung, Executive Director of HKPC said that the Council continued to enhance the capabilities of Hong Kong enterprises in manufacturing technology, information technology, environmental technology and management through different projects, with total fee income amounted to $308.8 million in 2004/05. "The year saw the implementation of major initiatives to enable HKPC to assist industry in capturing the emerging opportunities in a changing environment," he added.

Outlining some of the new initiatives undertaken by the Council, Mr Yeung said, "In addition to the Council's involvement in the establishment of the Automotive Parts R&D Centre, HKPC supports the growth of the fledging automotive parts sector through various projects. To promote the technological standards of the automotive parts industry, HKPC developed several technologies to improve production efficiency and product quality. The Council also launched an ITF project to devise a quality system for automotive parts enterprises."

"In the area of logistics management, we formed the HKPC Logistics Core Team and launched the HKPC Logistics Partnership Programme to provide strategic and technology support to service providers and users along the entire supply chain. We continued to promote the adoption of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in supply chain management to enhance local logistics operations. In addition, to foster collaboration among logistics sectors in the Pan-PRD region, HKPC led an Organizing Committee to make arrangements for the establishment of a Pan-PRD Logistics Consortium."

"To support manufacturers in their attempts to comply with new EU directives on handling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and on Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS), HKPC launched the 'RoHS-WEEE Express' programme which included audits on manufacturers' readiness for the directives and in-company training. We also launched the Green Manufacturing Network (GMN) to support members in their attempts to comply with green regulations, and published the 'Green Manufacturing Express' booklet and made it available for free download on the HKPC website," said Mr Yeung.

"In view of the rising number of Hong Kong manufacturers operating in the PRD under CEPA, HKPC expanded its operations across the border to provide support for Hong Kong enterprises operating in the PRD. In addition to the Productivity (Guangzhou) Consulting Co. Ltd which was officially opened in March 2004, two wholly-owned subsidiaries were officially opened in 2004/05 – the Productivity (Dongguan) Consulting Co Ltd and the Productivity (Shenzhen) Consulting Co Ltd. Like the parent organization, these subsidiaries provide consultancy services on manufacturing, information, and environmental technologies, as well as management systems."

"To foster co-operation between Hong Kong and the western Mainland city of Chongqing, HKPC opened its first CEPA Business Development Centre on the Mainland in Chongqing in 2004/05. The Centre aims to complement the services of our CEPA Business Development Centre in Hong Kong in matching Hong Kong, Mainland and overseas companies for partnership under the CEPA preferential treatment."

"HKPC came through the transitional year with significant accomplishments, making great leaps in the direction of our refocused objectives and laying the groundwork for the sustained implementation of our realigned strategies in the years to come. The copious endeavours we made during the year testified our unrelenting commitment to supporting industry in its quest for ever greater productivity excellence amid a constant state of flux. Looking ahead, we will keep up our momentum of improvement to meet the ever changing needs of Hong Kong enterprises," Mr Yeung concluded.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications & Events
Tel: (852) 2788-5895
Fax: (852) 2788-5056
E-mail: justina@hkpc.org

10 November 2005