December 1998

Road to High-tech

Is the Hong Kong Science Park
"a castle in the sky"?

By Sophia Wong

     In the 1998 Policy Address, the Chief Executive pinpointed the necessity to develop high value-added industrial and information technology in order to increase the diversity of economy.

     The Hong Kong Science Park is one of the government's gigantic investments in advanced technology.

Layout plan for the Pak Shek Kok Science Park
Extracted from the Hong Kong Science Park Study Stage 2 - Final Report

     Two stages of studies on the Science Park were completed in 1992 and 1995 respectively.

     The Park was proposed to be built at Pak Shek Kok Reclamation Area in Tai Po.

     According to the spokesperson of the Industry Department, objectives of constructing the Science Park were to attract new technology-based firms and activities to set up in Hong Kong and to provide resources to support local development of advanced technologies.

     Several multi-tenant buildings with special laboratory facilities used for general research and other development purposes will be built.

     Besides, innovation and development facilities will be available for rent by local and international companies who are interested in developing technologically advanced businesses.

     Commercial, residential and recreational facilities will also be provided in order to serve the needs of scientists and researchers who are not locally based.

     According to the government's schedule, the Park will be developed in three phases in 15 years, the first of which is to be opened in the latter-half of 2001.

     The whole project of the Science Park, exclusive of land price, will cost $2.3 billion.

     As promised in the Policy Address, the government will invest another $5 billion in the Innovation and Technology Fund which aims to finance local research on technology. This shows the government's determination in the implementation of high technology.

     "We are confident that our work will be fruitful because there are elements that favour the development of new technology, which include well developed infrastructure, free markets and the high adaptability and productivity of Hong Kong people," said the spokesperson of the Industry Department.

     Although the government is confident of Hong Kong's prospects in developing advanced technology, it seems that the public still has doubts about its possibility.

     According to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies in October 1998, only about 37% of the respondents showed confidence in the development of advanced technology in the territory, while half of them did not.

     Professor Leroy Chang Li Gong, vice-president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, supported government's idea.

     Said he: "Development of advanced technology has become a mainstream research topic around the world.

     "We have to develop a knowledge-based industry to support the 21st century's economy," he added.

     Professor Chang is also a member of the Commission on Innovation and Technology, a government committee aiming at supporting firms that are interested in advanced technology.

     He believes that the Commission can act as a bridge between academy and industry.

     He said, "Academy and industry have their unique functions and so they contribute to different parts of the development - universities are responsible for the basic research while industries are in charge of the further development of those research findings."

     The government is no doubt enthusiastic in realizing high-tech development in Hong Kong. But Mr. Sin Chung Kai, chairman of Information Technology and Broadcasting Panel of the Legislative Council, and spokesperson for Information Technology Policy of the Democratic Party, commented that there was still a long way to go if its policies on information technology did not change.

     Mr. Sin criticized the lack of concrete implementation plans as well as the slow working pace of the government. He also described the Science Park as an example of "long discussion with little progress".