The "14th Five-Year Plan" supports Hong Kong in building an "international innovation and technology center". The previous government proposed to significantly increase local R&D expenditure, accounting for 1.5% of the GDP, but ultimately failed to meet the target.
Sun Dong, the new Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said in an interview with Hong Kong 01 that he should "seek truth from facts" and hope that within the five-year term, local R&D expenditure will account for no less than 1.5% of GDP, which means an increase of 5% over the current R&D expenditure. 10. Emphasize that the government cannot rely on the government alone, and enterprises should also increase investment.
Sun Dong also revealed that he is in close communication with the State Internet Information Office to discuss arrangements for mainland data to transit through Hong Kong under certain conditions.
Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry.
(Photo by Li Zetong)
Promote the industrialization of scientific research Sun Dong: Hong Kong should give full play to its unique advantages
The last government invested more than 150 billion yuan to support the development of innovation and technology. The new chief executive, Li Jiachao, also stated that he is fully committed to promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong at full speed, but faced many difficulties. One of them is that Hong Kong's innovation and technology are stronger than scientific research, but the industrialization in real estate is effective. It's not ideal, "front shop, back factory" is still the mainstream, that is, Hong Kong is only assigned to the upper part of the entire industry chain. For example, the basic research of Shangtang Technology and DJI was completed in Hong Kong, but the research results were brought back. Inland industrialization.
As for how to better promote the transformation of scientific research, Sun Dong believes that it can be seen from two aspects. One is to put Hong Kong in the entire Greater Bay Area, and let Hong Kong do basic scientific research work, and hand it over to the cities of the Greater Bay Area for industrial transformation, and then return to Hong Kong for listing. , is a good choice.
The second angle is to consider the unique advantages of Hong Kong. Sun Dong pointed out that Hong Kong should be more actively involved in the development of the Greater Bay Area and establish a complete technological innovation ecosystem. Among them, it is necessary to consider the inherent advantages of Hong Kong and the characteristics of other cities in the Greater Bay Area to complement each other. "Be it Shenzhen or Dongguan, it must have its own developing industries, and Hong Kong will also develop and compete with it. I don't think Hong Kong will necessarily do the (industries) that others have an advantage. But we Hong Kong have some industries anyway. There are advantages, and the mainland or the Greater Bay Area has not yet developed, Hong Kong can take advantage of internationalization and make great efforts to do it.”
For example, he pointed out that the previous government has always emphasized life and health technology, and the world attaches great importance to this industry. Hong Kong has advantages in medical care, university research, and social recognition. Recently, the government has also launched the "InnoHK Innovation Hong Kong R&D Platform".
"Increasing R&D spending cannot depend on the government alone"
The previous government set a target in 2017 to increase the proportion of Hong Kong’s research expenditure to GDP to 1.5% by the end of the term, but by 2021, it will only be 0.99%, which will ultimately fail to meet the target.
Sun Dong ran for the Legislative Council last year and successfully entered the council. In February this year, he raised a written question, asking then-innovation and technology director Xue Yongheng to explain how to do it.
In just half a year, Sun Dong was transformed from a representative to an accountability officer and steered Hong Kong's innovation and technology policy. In his interview, he revealed for the first time that he hoped to reach no less than 1.5% during his term of office, which is a 50% increase over the current scientific research funding. , which refers to London (1.2%) and Singapore (1.89%), the former is similar to Hong Kong, mainly civilian technology, excluding military, aerospace, Hong Kong can set higher.
He emphasized the need to "seek truth from facts", and based on the actual situation, he pointed out that Hong Kong's current GDP is about 3 trillion Hong Kong dollars. If it were to reach 1.5%, it would be equivalent to an annual investment of 45 billion Hong Kong dollars, which is 15 to 20 billion yuan more than the current investment. Where does it come from? Right now, Hong Kong’s biggest expenditures are education and medical care, as well as people’s livelihood and poverty alleviation work. As we (innovation and technology) increase (funds), those places will decrease, so we must consider the actual situation.”
Sun Dong said that the government cannot rely solely on the government to further increase scientific research expenditure. He pointed out that in the past, 30 billion yuan was invested every year, of which 25 billion came from the government. In the future, the investment in scientific research will be greatly increased in the future. The increase of the government is of course effective, and we hope that enterprises will participate more. Why do we want to engage in industry? The target is set a little higher and it can reach 2%, depending on the effect of future development.”
As for the timetable for meeting the standard, Sun Dong pointed out that he hopes to reach 1.5% within the five-year term, the more the better. He also said that it depends on the establishment of the entire technology ecosystem. He predicts that an industrial policy will be launched soon, and strive for overseas and domestic high Technology companies settled in Hong Kong.
President Xi Jinping visited the Science Park during his earlier visit to Hong Kong.
(Photo by the Information Services Department)
I don't want Hong Kong to become a conflict between China and the United States
Money alone is not enough to activate the innovation and technology ecosystem. As for how to promote young people to join the innovation and technology industry, Sun Dong pointed out that the ultimate way out is to establish the innovation and technology industry ecosystem in Hong Kong. "Students are now studying medicine, law, and finance, because he After graduating, I see a way out, and my salary is several times higher than others. This is a reality, so we must develop the industry, and only the industry can gather talents.” He pointed out that the biggest obstacle to Hong Kong’s innovation and technology is the lack of talents, and it is necessary to strengthen STEM in secondary schools and universities. For professional education, it is also necessary to "snatch talents" from the outside world, including optimizing the entry plan for excellent talents.
However, the new crown epidemic has lasted for more than two years, and many companies have turned to Singapore for development due to Hong Kong's strict epidemic prevention policies. Sun Dong pointed out that Hong Kong's major advantages have not changed, that is, "backed by the motherland and connected with the world", Hong Kong's international finance, shipping , The status of the trade center is still solid, and the new government will work in all aspects to maintain the business environment in Hong Kong.
The current international political situation is complicated. The AI stock SenseTime, which was sanctioned by the United States, has also been listed in Hong Kong with twists and turns. Sun Dong pointed out that the central government and Hong Kong citizens hope that Hong Kong is an "economic city" and does not want Hong Kong to become a geographical conflict between China and the United States. Mo Xin emphasized that Hong Kong's advantages of "time and place" have not changed, "As for "people and people", we have experienced a lot of ups and downs in the past few years, and we finally settled down. , that's a very good statement."
Regarding the immigration wave, Sun Dong said that there is nothing to worry about. It is a good thing for young people to have the opportunity to study abroad. Hong Kong itself is an international city. Anyone is welcome to return to Hong Kong for development. There is no need to worry or interpret it too much. People are still willing to come back and come and go as they please.”
Sun Dong ran for the Legislative Council last year and was successfully elected.
(File photo/Photo by Yu Junliang)
Strive for the development of the data industry and speed up the enactment of the "Cybersecurity Law"
The Mainland implemented the "Data Security Law" last year, requiring organizations and individuals in China not to provide any data stored in China to any foreign judicial authorities and foreign law enforcement authorities; the Cyberspace Administration of China later required online platforms that hold the personal data of more than 1 million users When an operator goes public abroad, it must apply for a security review, and government departments will assess the "risk of critical information infrastructure, core data, important data or a large amount of personal data being influenced, controlled, or maliciously used by foreign governments."
Sun Dong said that he is in close communication with the Cyberspace Administration of China. One of the important agendas is to initiate a liaison mechanism with the mainland government to discuss arrangements for mainland data to transit through Hong Kong under certain conditions.
He said that he hopes to "cross the river" of data, "Currently overseas data can come to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is a part of China, and we are seeking data from relevant national authorities to export data to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong's unique advantages will come out, which is in line with the With Hong Kong characteristics, no other place can compete with us.”
He described the development of data centers as the world is inferior to Hong Kong, "Singapore does not have this advantage, Shanghai does not have this advantage, Hong Kong has it, but the world does not have anything that falls from the sky, you have to fight for it." He pointed out that the Legislative Council will discuss "Cybersecurity" Law, hoping to speed up the legislation, and to study and adopt measures before it is implemented to ensure that data comes to Hong Kong, which will help attract other enterprises and make Hong Kong a data center. Smart cities, digital economy, artificial intelligence are all good things.”
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