The service sector plays a crucial role in Hong Kong, a highly developed economy, contributing 90 percent of the city’s GDP. In contrast, for comparable cities, the contribution from the service sector is much less (Singapore has 70 percent of its GDP in servicing). While some commentators view this as a disadvantage for Hong Kong, the focus on professional services is actually not an issue, thanks to our continual integration with the motherland, especially when we have an ongoing effort to collaborate with the manufacturing-intensive cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, while maintaining Hong Kong’s unique strengths in finance and professional services under the “one country, two systems” principle. I am going to discuss how focusing on intellectual property rights (IPR) can help further Hong Kong’s economic development.

In my view, IPR can lead to significant value accretion to Hong Kong’s service-oriented economy. In the first quarter of 2024, the five largest contributors to the city’s service economy are public administration (social and personal) (22.29 percent), financing and insurance (21.9 percent), import/export, wholesale and retail trades (17.49 percent) and transportation, storage, postal and courier (11.77 percent). IPR carries weight in all of the above sectors. Thus, it makes economic sense to accelerate the development of the city into an IPR-based society.

Indeed, the pursuit of IPR education is of strategic importance. First, IPR promotion can inspire youngsters and university graduates to develop more cultural and artistic work, which boosts cultural industries’ development and merchandise sales.

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Second, IPR education is in high demand in its own right. Teaching students IPR can transform the younger generation into IPR professionals, such as IPR lawyers, accountants, bankers and company secretaries.

Third, an awareness of IPR-related legal development ensures the city can be friendly to foreign capital and continues to excel as a global trading hub.

Fourth, IPR yields a spillover effect that benefits other professional and nonprofessional services. In this regard, I have four recommendations for the administration, regarding improvement in the city’s IPR development, protection and implementation environment:

First, Hong Kong needs to be better synchronized with international IPR developments.

We have been sluggish historically in updating the law. Unlike the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong has no copyright registration procedure. Things get very complicated when copyright disputes arise since there is no official document depositary related to who first created the IP. Moreover, the Hong Kong Copyright Ordinance (Cap.528) was enacted on June 30, 1997, and the Hong Kong Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance was enacted only after 2021 to harmonize with World Intellectual Property Organization internet treaties, to specifically introduce a safe harbor provision for online service providers and to implement technological protection measures. In contrast, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States was enacted in 1998. Investors would be very frustrated with such laggard legislation, which should be rectified sooner rather than later.

Second, we need better cross-departmental effort for IPR law enforcement.

At present, there have been vast gray areas regarding IPR law enforcement. Online fraud cases could be a matter related to national security, technology, law, customs and excise, and the police. Fraud cases that appear on many mobile devices in Hong Kong are blatant violations of IPR in trademark, copyright, and rights of publicity. These are not laughing matters but instead obvious signs that cross-departmental efforts are currently not effective across various government functions.

Third, we need stronger collaboration across different policy bureaus.

The tertiary institution sector is important for Hong Kong because of its potential contribution to GDP and its spillover effect on advanced industrial production, professional services and finance. IPR is important common knowledge and practical training yet it is very rarely taught in our institutions. Knowledge in IPR and related fields such as resolution, mitigation, legal updates (safe harbor, IPR laws in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and streaming) should be obtained from academia and shared with our Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau. Entrepreneurship software subsidies by the government through channels like InvestHK and funding via the Science Park and Cyberport may incubate future successful IPR owners, and the future IP startups would highly appreciate further support from the government so that they can learn more about entrepreneurship. Regular seminars in corporate management, tax planning, general office administration, and so on, would give these new companies a good start.

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Fourth, ensuring the success of the International Organization for Mediation (IOM)ensures Hong Kong’s successful future in IPR.

The Belt and Road Initiative, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership facilitate closer ties between China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) and the rest of the world; while the upcoming IOM will ensure fair treatment for both Chinese and international enterprises. We should lead by example and set our own mediation standards so that the Chinese-style, China-led mediation in IPR is globally recognized.

By continuously improving its IPR regime, Hong Kong would be able to unleash its potential to become a forerunner, lead by example in the area of IPR, further strengthen its position as an eminent services provider, and bring home wealth with its comprehensive, professional services.

The author is the chief financial officer of the Belt and Road General Chamber of Commerce. As an assistant adjunct professor, he also teaches intellectual property rights at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.