City's young creatives look to build a high-tech future

People gather outside the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. [Photo/China Daily]

Creative economy

To boost Hong Kong's creative economy, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau set up an agency called CreateHK in 2009. It provides government resources to promote and accelerate the sector's development, aiming to promote Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital.

"Hong Kong enjoys several advantages in both geographic location and resources," said David Chung, under secretary for the city's Innovation and Technology Bureau.

He added that the city's location at heart of Asia means it is a gate way to the Chinese mainland and has world-leading infrastructure that provides a platform for startups.

"It also has diverse cultural and social backgrounds, with a unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures. The region also has a strong, R&D talents supported by world-famous tertiary institutions that offer creative industry-related education," he said. "More important, we have high respect for intellectual property, which is crucial for the I&T industry."

As a financial support project with objectives in line with a strategic direction to drive the creative industry, a $300 million fund was established in 2009.

Since it started in 2011, the fund has covered design-related projects which were previously financed by the DesignSmart Initiative. In 2013, the CreateSmart Initiative was given a top-up of $300 million, and the Design-Business Collaboration Scheme, which encourages the wider use of design by small and medium-sized enterprises, was also placed under the CSI.

By March last year, the DesignSmart Initiative had received 509 applications. So far, 270 projects have been approved, involving $570 million in funding. Meanwhile, more than 160 applications have been received by the Design-Business Collaboration Scheme, of which 52 have been approved, with funding of $1.85 million.

Dramatic changes

In recent decades, the world has witnessed dramatic changes as a result of the development of science and technology, and Hong Kong's plan to build the city into Asia's creative center has been boosted by innovative ideas from scientific talent, according to Chung.

As the city's most important incubator, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp was ranked fifth in the global startup ecosystem last year, according to the statistics from a recent survey by Invest Hong Kong, the government's investment promotion agency.

The data show that the number of new employees at Hong Kong startups jumped from 3,721 in 2015 to 5,229 last year, and 48 co-working spaces were available.

"We will foster the next generation of scientific talent, turning Hong Kong into a center for technological innovation, enhancing the city's diversified economy and guiding Hong Kong into a new era of prosperity," said Fanny Law, chairperson of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp.

In the past year, several world-leading research institutes have chosen Hong Kong as their overseas research center. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened its first-ever overseas "Innovation Node" in the science and technology park, along with the Karolinska Institutet, one of the largest and most-prestigious medical universities, which opened its first hub outside Sweden there last year.

"Overseas medical research programs－for example, some related to stem cells－prefer to conduct their research in Hong Kong because we have a mix of races and our medical system follows the same protocols as those in many Western countries. In addition, we have far fewer language barriers," Law said.

In the light of fierce competition from mainland cities, Hong Kong faces problems in its bid to become the region's innovation hub, according to Law: "It is important to be clear about what the mainland needs from us－it could be a historic opportunity for our future development. Our talent and experience can contribute to the acceleration of the internationalization of mainland enterprises, while the resources and market in the mainland will benefit us."