HKPC Welcomes Budget Proposals to Deepen Support for Local Industries in Innovation and Technology, Reindustrialisation and Tapping New Markets

(Hong Kong, 28 February 2019) The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) welcomes the HKSAR Government's 2019-20 Budget proposals to strengthen innovation and technology (I&T) development in Hong Kong and nurture more local R&D talent; and leverage on the edge of Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to become an international I&T hub as well as assist Hong Kong companies to grasp new business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and those economies which have entered into an Free Trade Agreement with Hong Kong, including the ASEAN market, to facilitate the digital transformation of businesses in the "Industry 4.0" era for reindustrialisation and to enhance international competitiveness.

HKPC, as the Secretariat and Technical Assessor of he Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund), will help local companies learn more about the technology development trend in the Greater Bay Area, ASEAN, and other regional markets, and acquire world-class technologies for production process improvement, while seizing the opportunity arising from the raising of the funding ceiling to explore business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, ASEAN market and other regions.

HKPC is also pleased with the HKSAR Government's pledge to deepen local I&T investment and plan to inject HK$2 billion into the Innovation and Technology Fund for launching the Reindustrialisation Funding Scheme. HKPC will continue to guide local businesses to put reindustrialisation into practice and encourage more manufacturers to implement digital manufacturing and set up smart production lines in Hong Kong, with the aim to assist their development of high-end production and new products while becoming more cost-effective. Also, it will promote local technology development and application, and create better and higher values.

HKPC endorses the HKSAR Government's directions to nurture local IT talent and fully supports the IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools Programme. Apart from utilising public resources, the funded schools are also welcome to exchange views with HKPC experts or leverage its train-the-trainers services in order to learn the latest industry knowledge and skills for further understanding and implementation of reindustrialisation. In addition, HKPC is currently working with RWTH Aachen Campus from Germany to establish an Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Centre in Hong Kong. It will continue seeking collaboration opportunities with other world class universities or R&D institutions to promote I&T development of the Greater Bay Area.

To promote wider use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government has proposed to allocate HK$120 million to extend the public EV charging networks at all government car parks. The Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre of HKPC, as a major R&D institution for promoting EV technologies, is committed to supporting the growth of EV or charging equipment through the development of various advanced technologies.

HKPC firmly believes that these initiatives will be warmly welcomed by the industries. It will spare no efforts in supporting the basket of plans proposed by the government in the Budget and assisting local companies to cement their regional advantage and expedite their i4.0 and smart city transformation.

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