The Science and Technology Park Corporation issued a statement on Thursday (September 29), stating that after active discussions with the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the "final plan" is to provide "Mil Mill" with an additional six-month grace period to balance the park's long-term development plan, "Various factors" such as the interests of stakeholders in the I&T ecosystem.
The incident has been fermenting for many days, causing the society to wonder how the scope of concepts such as "re-industrialization" and "innovative technology" should be determined?
As the official statutory body, the Science and Technology Park Corporation has the government as its single shareholder. How should it be prioritized when implementing relevant policies?
Are only so-called "high value-added" industries worthy of the government and society spending a lot of resources to invest and support?
When the Science and Technology Parks Corporation announced in November last year that it would reposition the three industrial estates in Yuen Long, Tai Po and Tseung Kwan O as "innovation parks", it mentioned that this move was to support the "re-industrialization" policy of the Hong Kong government and "inject the industrial estates into industrial estates". New vitality, attracting high value-added, high-tech and advanced process enterprises, ensuring the sustainable and long-term development of the local industrial community, and benefiting the entire society of Hong Kong... Achieve greater dreams for traditional industries and gradually move towards technology-driven industries."
"Miaofang" founded by Hong Kong people undoubtedly belongs to the local recycling industry, and it can also bring obvious benefits to the overall sustainable development of the society. By refusing to renew the contract, it can be seen that they believe that the other party is not a "high value-added, high-tech and advanced technology enterprise", so they cannot be allowed to stay in the park.
Yao Qingliang, senior director of "Reindustrialization" of the Science and Technology Park Corporation, once said that "Miaofang" can participate in the bidding again if it meets the eight directions of the park policy such as "joining advanced technological processes".
But looking at the eight major directions, "Miaofang" has clearly met at least half, including driving local industrial output, actively investing in Hong Kong's industries, and meeting local needs to produce and develop sustainable businesses.
For the rest, there is also great room for consideration in terms of increasing high-quality employment opportunities, combining I&T R&D elements, and producing technology-rich products.
So why is the current request to stop the renewal of the contract in advance, the guidelines are confusing.
It is the government's duty to implement the leasing standard
In addition, before this "Miaofang" incident, the Science and Technology Park Company and other industrial estates had also had similar disputes over the choice of tenants.
In the "SUNeVision" incident, the Court of Appeal of the High Court in June this year asked the park to thoroughly investigate the successful bidder's business that has nothing to do with the promotion of innovation and technology.
Combining the above two cases, the criteria for selecting a lessee for the park land by the Science and Technology Park Company are worryingly inclined towards commercial "high value-added", and may not be entirely based on the promotion of I&T development or the overall social benefits.
There is absolutely no problem in business, but the nature of the Science and Technology Park Corporation is not a purely private enterprise, but a statutory body with the government as the sole shareholder.
The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Ordinance stipulates that the objectives of the Science and Technology Park Corporation include "facilitating the research, development and application of technology in the manufacturing and service industries in Hong Kong" and "supporting the development, transfer and use of new or advanced technology in Hong Kong", with emphasis on Leverage "new or advanced technology" to benefit other local industries.
If there is any sign of deviation from the above-mentioned objectives in the selection criteria of the tenant, the government has the responsibility to intervene and make corrections.
The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Ordinance provides that "to undertake or carry out the affairs or functions which the Chief Executive in Council, after consultation with the Science and Technology Parks Corporation, may, by order published in the Gazette, permit or designate the company to undertake or perform any business or function", and the board of directors of the company One of the chairmen must be appointed by the Chief Executive, and the other directors must be appointed by the Financial Secretary. It can be seen that the Hong Kong government should have no difficulty in the system if it wants to lead the decision-making of the park.
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Directional indicators review to avoid disputes
In the past, some decisions made by the Science and Technology Park Company have been criticized for localization, favoring non-local international giants, and strict approval and funding.
To avoid repeated controversies like this, the authorities should address other, more deeply rooted issues lurking behind the scenes.
Specifically, the park should formulate a set of clear and unambiguous public standards for the eight major directions, which should be followed when the lease is tendered or renewed.
Among them, such as whether "active investment in Hong Kong industry" refers to involving a certain amount or proportion of capital, or whether "technological content products" are limited to specific types, etc., all should have a specific statement.
Secondly, the park can introduce a score evaluation system like other government departments or public institutions. For example, public works tenders have technical score ratios for contractors' ability to complete projects, construction projects, proposed solutions, and past performance.
Of course, even if there are specific indicators, each can still be interpreted once.
Therefore, if there are more cases of dissatisfaction with the decision of the park in the future, there should also be a mechanism to allow opponents to review the results with the Innovation and Technology Bureau.
If the above-mentioned reforms can be implemented, the current situation of lawsuits and press conferences to seek justice can be avoided and disputes can be effectively reduced.
The policy of developing I&T is never purely to promote individual "high value-added" industries, but to lead other industries to benefit together.
In his Budget speech at the beginning of this year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said, "The innovation and technology industry is not only a new growth point for the economy, but also can enhance the productivity of other industries... Whether it is the development of new advantageous industries or traditional industries The transformation and upgrading of the industry requires the leadership of innovation and technology, so we must focus on promoting the development of innovation and technology.” In this set of policies, science and technology park companies play an important role.
In order to ensure the implementation of the positioning, the Hong Kong government needs to strengthen the administrative and regulatory requirements for this statutory body.
In addition to increasing the transparency of the leasing and bidding procedures, consideration can be given to increasing the amount of assistance provided to SMEs, and setting a limit on the proportion of subsidies for local and non-local enterprises to ensure that public funds are used properly.
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