This undated photo shows the Hong Kong Science Park. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will soon promulgate an innovation and technology development blueprint laying out the general directions and major strategies for the city's future I&T development in the coming five to 10 years from the perspective of a top-level planning. 

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong said this in a written reply to a question in the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

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The government will also set out major facilitation policies under four broad development directions, including, inter alia, enhancing the I&T ecosystem and achieving re-industrialization in Hong Kong, he said. 

Styled as "Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint”, the scheme will set broad development targets for the city’s future I&T development in the coming five to 10 years and propose relevant reference development indicators to facilitate the review on the progress of I&T development, the government said in a news release. 

The government's policy objective is to promote local R&D activities, thereby driving vibrant I&T development in Hong Kong.

Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Professor 

Stressing that promoting I&T development is the work focus of this term of government, the secretary said the government is implementing initiatives through developing infrastructure, promoting research and development, nurturing talent, and supporting the industry to this end. “At the same time, we are committed to promoting re-industrialization to inject impetus to and diversify Hong Kong's economy.”

The Innovation and Technology Fund's (ITF) funding schemes on facilitating technology adoption have always welcomed applications from eligible local enterprises and institutions, he said. As of October 2022, about 17,000 applications were approved for funding, of which over 95 percent small and medium-sized enterprises, involving total funding of around HK$2.8 billion.

"The government's policy objective is to promote local R&D activities, thereby driving vibrant I&T development in Hong Kong,” he said.

Given the close ties between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, the Innovation and Technology Commission has allowed up to 50 percent of the R&D work of an ITF project to be conducted and the relevant expenditure to be incurred in the mainland, said Prof Dong.

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Also, the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales and the SME Export Marketing Fund under the Trade and Industry Department provide support for Hong Kong enterprises to expand their businesses and participate in marketing activities on the mainland, he said.

The government has set a key performance indicator of increasing the amount of funding approved for supporting small and medium enterprises to HK$900 million per annum on average in 2022 and 2023, which is an increase of 5 percent over the annual average amount approved in 2019-2021, the secretary added.