HKPC Welcomes "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint" and Fully Supports HKSAR Government to Promote I&T and “new industrialisation” to Unleash Strong Economic Growth in Hong Kong

(Hong Kong, 22 December 2022) The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) welcomes the "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint" (the Blueprint) released today by the HKSAR government. The Blueprint has laid out a top-level planning and design with clear goals and a roadmap for the next five to ten years. HKPC fully supports the four broad development directions and eight major strategies envisioned in the Blueprint, and believes their implementations will enable I&T to become a main growth engine for Hong Kong’s pursuit of high-quality economic development. It will create new momentum as Hong Kong is poised to accelerate its transformation into an international I&T hub and a smart city, achieve “new industrialisation”, enlarge the I&T talent pool, and leverage its advantages as an international city for better integration into the overall national development.

As a vital member in Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem and an implementer and facilitator of Hong Kong’s industrial policy, we fully support the HKSAR government to promote “new industrialisation” in Hong Kong. Leveraging our strengths in research and innovation with world-leading capabilities and extensive collaboration with renowned institutes worldwide, HKPC will deepen the cooperation and connections with our international partners such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology in Germany, and MIT in the United States, to foster the research and development of core technologies in key fields and promote the “from 1 to N” transformation of R&D outcomes, and deliver values for the industry with innovative solutions. We will organise a series of large-scale events in 2023 to showcase Hong Kong’s strengths to achieve “new Industrialisation”, and promote the application of new technologies, as part of our dedicated efforts to help traditional industries in Hong Kong upgrade and transform into intelligent, high value-added operations, and accelerate the development of strategic industries such as life and health technology, artificial intelligent and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and new energy technology. Through advanced technology, FutureSkills training, and government funding, we will empower enterprises to proactively seize the golden opportunities in Hong Kong’s I&T sector, help bring in top-notch enterprises and global talents to Hong Kong, enhance the I&T ecosystem, so that the “Made in Hong Kong” brand appeal will spread further and wider all over the world, and Hong Kong’s economy will thrive in the digital era and embrace a green transformation.

Talent is the key to I&T development. HKPC welcomes the various measures related to talents in the Blueprint. We will provide full support to the HKSAR government in implementing the policy measures to nurture talents, bring in top-notch enterprises and outstanding talents to Hong Kong, and create high-quality career opportunities for young people. We will also continue to promote TechEd development and on-the-job training, to prepare the younger generations with the skills and mindset to join the I&T sector and realise their bright future. Earlier, HKPC held the “Mass Robot Programming for New World Record” event, which set a new Guinness World Record for Hong Kong. Recently, we opened the TechEd Playground at HKPC Building, aiming to build an exchange and integrated platform to strengthen and connect talent training, and reinforce HKPC’s commitment to enlarge the local I&T talent pool. We will continue to work closely with the academia and TechEd partners to offer a wide range of FutureSkills and STEAM training programmes and hold a series of exhibitions, events and seminars, to promote the I&T culture and overall I&T atmosphere in the community.

HKPC will draw guidance from the Report of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi's important speech on 1 July this year in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and with the motto “Innovation Never Stops” we are exploring the plan to establish the HKPC GBA Innovation and Technology Research Institute, to promote innovative collaboration of the industry, academia and research institutes, and provide full support for the HKSAR government in the implementation of the Blueprint. We will facilitate the convenient cross-boundary flow of innovation elements between Hong Kong and the Mainland, support Hong Kong to actively dovetail with the Mainland institutional set-up for innovation, participate in the new national development pattern of “dual circulation”, strengthen international I&T collaboration, and serve the country's needs with Hong Kong’s strengths. We will give full support for Hong Kong to develop into an international I&T hub and a smart city under the “14th Five-Year Plan”, to seize the opportunities presented by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, to facilitate the development of the Greater Bay Area into a world-leading hub for scientific and technological innovation, and to make important contributions to the country’s endeavour to become a world leader in science and technology and realise Chinese-style modernisation.

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