Hong Kong Business News

Continuing a visit to Canada, Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong delivered a keynote speech at a Seminar on Life Science & Global Health, held at the Parliament Building in Ottawa.

Prof Sun said that while Canada is a long-recognised powerhouse in the field of life and health science, Hong Kong is emerging as an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre.

He then outlined a number of advantages that Hong Kong enjoys in relation to the development of life and health technologies.

Hong Kong’s flagship research and development initiative, InnoHK, has established collaborations with more than 30 world-renowned universities and research institutes in 12 economies, including Canada. It has set up 29 research laboratories,16 of them focused on healthcare-related technologies. Also in place are a $6 billion subsidy programme supporting local universities to set up life and health technology research institutes, and a $3 billion Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme to accelerate cross-disciplinary research.

He said: “We will set up the InnoLife Healthtech Hub in the Hetao Hong Kong Park (the Loop) to attract top-notch research teams and talent from around the world. We will allocate another $2 billion to support the InnoHK research clusters to establish (a) presence in the Loop, and $200 million to support startups in the Loop engaging in life and health technology in the form of incubation and acceleration programmes.”

New land will be made available in San Tin Technopole to support I&T industry development, creating synergy with the nearby Shenzhen I&T Zone, he added.

He also outlined that Hong Kong is the best platform for connecting Mainland I&T talent and companies with those from around the world, as the city possesses the distinctive advantages of enjoying strong national support and being closely connected to the world under “one country, two systems”.

Prof Sun also met a Canadian senator and a member of the country’s parliament to discuss ways of enhancing collaboration on science, innovation and research between Hong Kong and Canada, as well as fostering people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Separately, Prof Sun called on Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di to brief him on the progress of developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre, as well as the city’s efforts to integrate into the nation’s I&T development. The tech chief said that Hong Kong spares no effort in developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, including in its pursuit of new industrialisation, and its increased investment for I&T industries.

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