HKPC on High Gear to Assist Industry in Value Creation

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) will step up its efforts in the areas of automotive and logistics sectors, and technology commercialization, assisting industry to move up the value chain, capturing new business opportunities and overcoming challenges, according to the Hon Andrew Leung, Chairman of HKPC, in his message published in the Council's 2005/06 Annual Report.

Mr Leung said, "HKPC can look forward to a new era of development marked by the continuous launch of exciting initiatives in support of industry's quest for productivity excellence."

"In line with HKPC's role as an industry support organization, these new ventures will be responsive to the changing needs of industry in a business landscape characterized by mixed blessings. On the one hand, enterprises are encountering numerous challenges, including growing competition, rising costs, and increasingly stringent international regulations. On the other hand, the strengthening economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland is creating new market opportunities for local industry," Mr Leung said.

To help industry tap these opportunities and ride on the challenges, in the coming years, HKPC will gear up its efforts in a range of areas, including the automotive and logistics sectors as well as technology commercialization.

On the Council's support for the automotive sector, Mr Leung said, "HKPC is moving ahead in high gear to support the development of the local automotive parts and accessory systems industry, a sector with huge potential thanks to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which exempts certain automotive components made by Hong Kong enterprises from Mainland import tariffs. In April 2006, HKPC was appointed by the HKSAR Government to host the Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre (R&D Centre) to undertake market-led R&D programmes and commercialize their results in collaboration with industry, universities and technology institutes. Serving as an industry front-end for the Centre, HKPC will work closely with industry to ensure that these projects meet market needs. At the same time, we will reinforce our support for the automotive sector, providing consultancy and business development services as well as conducting our own R&D."

"Another focus of HKPC is the local logistics sector, which has taken on increased importance consequent to global market trends as well as new business opportunities arising from the implementation of CEPA and the Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement. With funding support from the Logistics Development Council of the HKSAR Government, we are implementing a major project to promote the use of IT and automation techniques in logistics to enhance the overall standard of Hong Kong's logistics services," 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, "We attach great importance to the commercialization of technologies resulting from our R&D efforts – a direction reaffirmed in 2004 with the establishment of the HKPC Technology (Holdings) Co. Ltd. (HKPCT). The financial returns of such technology commercialization will be ploughed back to HKPC to support the development of more innovative technologies for the benefit of local industry. Under this initiative, we achieved a breakthrough in 2005/06 when HKPCT carried out its first transaction by commercializing a hygiene control system developed by HKPC. With this encouraging beginning, we will continue to exert ourselves to commercialize our R&D deliverables for the best interests of the business sector."

The Annual Report also highlighted HKPC's performance over the past fiscal year, including its various initiatives to enhance the capabilities of Hong Kong enterprises in manufacturing technology, information technology, environmental technology and management, with total fee income amounted to $269.5 million in 2005/06.

In view of the increasing number of Hong Kong manufacturers in the PRD, HKPC has been expanding its presence across the border to provide these enterprises with integrated support across the value chain. In addition to the three subsidiary companies set up in previous years, the Shenzhen SZ-HK Productivity Foundation Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2005/06 as a joint venture between HKPC's Shenzhen company and the Shenzhen Productivity Promotion Centre of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. Scheduled for operation in 2007, the new joint venture will support the development of Hong Kong and Mainland SMEs in the areas of technology innovation, CEPA business opportunities, information services, management and training, and product promotion.

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
Website: www.hkpc.org

30 November 2006