Policy Address

Dovetail with National Strategies and Enhance the Development of the "Eight Centres"

60. The Government will consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's development of "eight centres" as outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan, providing impetus for sustaining our competitiveness and economic growth.

International Innovation and Technology Centre

61. The Government promulgated last December the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint for developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre. On the Emerging Ecosystems ranking in 2023, Hong Kong ranks second in the world and first in Asia. To further implement the Blueprint, we will:

  1. set up the New Industrialisation Development Office – Established under the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and led by the Commissioner for Industry, the office will adopt an industry-oriented approach to promote new industrialisation in Hong Kong, support strategic enterprises to develop their businesses in Hong Kong, assist the manufacturing sector in upgrading and transformation by making use of I&T, and provide support for start-ups;

  2. facilitate the research and development of microelectronics – We will establish the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research and Development Institute next year to lead and facilitate collaboration among universities, R&D centres and the industry, which will include exploring the third-generation semi-conductor core technology and leveraging the GBA's well-developed manufacturing supply chains and enormous market. The newly-built Microelectronics Centre will also be commissioned next year to provide advanced infrastructure and hardware facilities designated for microelectronics;

  3. expedite the establishment of a supercomputing centre to foster AI development – From next year onwards, Cyberport will establish an AI supercomputing centre in phases, with a view to supporting the huge demand for computing power from R&D and relevant sectors and promoting industry development;

  4. support transformation of R&D outcomes from start-ups – The Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme seeks to promote the transformation and commercialisation of R&D outcomes from universities. The results of its first batch of applications will be announced in the first quarter next year. We will double the maximum funding provided for the Technology Transfer Office of each specified university to $16 million, enabling universities to strengthen their support on technology transfer and expand marketing services. We will also attract more renowned Mainland and overseas start-up services agencies to set up their operations in Hong Kong for providing incubation services and development guidance;