“ForeSight 2022” Third Forum Analyses the Prospects for Traditional Industries and Reveals Advanced Manufacturing Industries to Forge a New Chapter

(Hong Kong, 19 November 2021) The government has actively made use of 'reindustrialisation' to promote advanced manufacturing in recent years, significantly stepping up its R&D investment and policies in R&D. The opportunities for Hong Kong to develop “reindustrialisation” and its deployment have been hot topics. The second day of “ForeSight 2022”, signature event of the year of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), began with a forum under the theme of “Dreams Come True: Realisation and Development of Reindustrialisation”. Five visionaries from the government, business and innovation and technology (I&T) sectors, including Ms Rebecca Pun, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government; Dr Joseph Wong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Design Centre; Dr Alex Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of King's Flair International (Holdings) Limited; Mr Artist Wong, Founder of Arts and Design Consultancy Limited and CK One Limited; and Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC, analysed the pain points and opportunities faced by the traditional industries under advanced manufacturing and the integration of design into these industries to help enterprises develop high value-added businesses with Industry 4.0 (i4.0). They also revealed the development and opportunities of the emerging industry of the new generation of semiconductors.

Ms Rebecca Pun, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, said, “Hong Kong’s industry has a solid foundation, and innovation and technology brings new opportunities for Hong Kong’s industry to reach new heights. In recent years, we have been creating favourable conditions for ’re-industrialisation’ in different areas, and developing advanced manufacturing based on new technologies and smart production, which is less land- or labour-intensive. We have been actively promoting ‘re-industrialisation’ in five areas, namely infrastructure, financial support, talent training, technological upgrading, and research and development, to assist the industries in upgrading and transforming with a view to enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness.”

Dr Joseph Wong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Design Centre, said, “Hong Kong has no shortage of creative young design talent – HKDI Higher Diploma students in Product Design were bestowed the internationally acclaimed “Red Dot: Best of the Best” twice in three years, surpassing the achievements of even professional designers. The key is to encourage them to think out of the box and actively seize new opportunities brought on by the industry chain revolution under i4.0. Young people nowadays care deeply for the society, and creating shared value would be an excellent starting point to attract young designers to join the emerging intelligent manufacturing and product development industries, and play a vital role.”

Dr Alex Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of King's Flair International (Holdings) Limited, “The key to ‘reindustrialisation’ not only lies in the use of new technologies and innovative concepts to simplify production procedure. It also places a strong emphasis on the upstream movement of Hong Kong’s traditional manufacturing industry, in the hope that through premium raw materials and products, it can re-establish its high-tech label and positioning in the global arena. In the long run, ‘reindustrialisation’ can promote economic diversification, creating quality employment opportunities, and injecting new impetus into the local economy. We believe ‘reindustrialisation’ is becoming an important growth engine, and Hong Kong should leverage its advantage in research and development, education, and technology development and to make ‘Made in Hong Kong’ shine again.”

Mr Artist Wong, Founder of Arts and Design Consultancy Limited and CK One Limited, said, “’Reindustrialisation’ emphasises on new technology and smart production to minimise plant size and labour. The provision of dedicated funding re-vitalises the food industry, enhances trade reputation, strengthens the promotion of industry-related information, and offers more job opportunities to the new generation.”

Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC, said, “The Reindustrialisation Study – Hong Kong conducted by HKPC earlier found that the ‘new generation of semiconductors’ is an emerging industry with great potential. At present, as the world is facing the problem of chip shortage and China also intends to develop its own new generation of semiconductor technology and a complete supply chain, Hong Kong can target the market demand to actively attract semiconductor-related companies from all over the world to settle in Hong Kong through promotion. As a highly export-oriented and open economy, and a free port with unrestricted capital access, Hong Kong is blessed with a complete intellectual property protection system, a firm R&D foundation in local universities, and local traditional industries with international marketing, sales and international customer base advantages. Together with the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which clearly supports Hong Kong’s development as an international I&T hub, Hong Kong can use the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as an entry point to integrate into the overall national development and give full play to its advantages in domestic and external cycles. In addition, the HKSAR Government has proposed to expand the Innovation and Technology Bureau into the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau. HKPC welcomes the move and believes it can significantly assist the acceleration of the development of emerging industries such as the new generation of semiconductors.”

Mr Lai added, “The Study also focuses on the conditions, feasibility and challenges for ‘reindustrialisation’ in Hong Kong’s food technology, health technology and green technology found that half of the companies surveyed are aware of i4.0, and more than half of them said they have invested in R&D. HKPC will continue provide companies with ‘one-stop’ world-class comprehensive technical support. In addition to the preliminary feasibility study, it will also address the pain points of plant space shortage. Based on its layout as well as applying i4.0, HKPC will design and tailor-make intelligent production lines. It will also match relevant government funding funds and train talents for enterprises to assist their upgrading and transformation on all fronts. Moreover, HKPC’s world-class R&D achievements have been widely recognised, winning an array of local and international accolades. HKPC will continue to benefit the industry through innovative ideas.”

To recap all the forums of “ForeSight 2022”, please visit the website: https://foresight2022.hkpc.org

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The third forum of “ForeSight 2022” was held this morning under the theme of “Dreams Come True: Realisation and Development of Reindustrialisation”. Heavyweight guest speakers including Ms Rebecca Pun, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR (fourth from right); Dr Joseph Wong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Design Centre (second from right); Dr Alex Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of King's Flair International (Holdings) Limited (third from right); and Mr Artist Wong, Founder of Arts and Design Consultancy Limited and CK One Limited (fourth from left); joined Mr Willy Lin, Chairman of HKPC (first from right); Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of HKPC (second from left), and Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC (third from left), for a group photo with the forum’s emcee media veteran Mr Vincent Wong (first from left) before the start of the forum.