Senior official pledges to develop HK as IPR trading hub

Developing Hong Kong into a hub for IPR trading and management is the broad direction for diversifying the city's economy, said a top Hong Kong official in the legislative meeting on Tuesday.

Responding to a legislator's concern that Hong Kong might lose its competitiveness compared with its mainland counterparts, Gregory So, head of the city's commerce and economic bureau, said that the government has been setting up a working group concerning the trading of intellectual property rights (IPR), in an effort to foster the development of emerging industries while maintaining the traditional pillar industries.

However, he did not give an exact timetable for the goals to be reached or any detailed efforts, merely promising that the government will take a leading role in building "infrastructure" for IPR trading.

Such infrastructure, he said, is not a physical venue, but facilitating schemes to "reduce the cost of trading", and "come up with certain standards", as IPR trading activities in Hong Kong are already quite buoyant.

Compared with cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore, he said that Hong Kong has its competitive edge in professional services like accountancy and arbitration, as well as a sound legal system, which makes the city well-placed to seek such a development.

"This also pose many opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SEMs)," he said, pledging to give full support SEMs, often claimed as "the pillar of the Hong Kong economy."

A fund totaling $1 billion was set up last June to assist Hong Kong enterprises in upgrading and restructuring. The cumulative amount of grant for SMEs under the SME Export Marketing funding scheme is also expected to be raised from $150,000 to $200,000.

The senior official also stressed the importance of economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland, not just in the pilot zones of Guangdong province, but in the "Pan-Pearl River Delta Region" covering many provinces in central part of China, such as Hunan, Sichuan and Jiangxi.

To facilitate Hong Kong enterprises, especially SMEs, to gain access to the mainland market, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the city's official body for establishing global trading links, will set up more design galleries in mainland cities other than Beijing and Guangzhou to offer platforms for Hong Kong enterprises to showcase their products.

He also said the government will continue to strengthen Hong Kong's four traditional pillar industries, namelytrading and logistics, tourism, financial services and business and professional services, through various measures including allocating additional resources and seeking regional collaboration.