Opportunities for British businesses in IT field outlined

February 4, 1999

The Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr K C Kwong, called on British companies specialising in electronic commerce and related services to take an active part in exploiting the opportunities that are available in Hong Kong.

Addressing a luncheon gathering organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London today (Thursday), Mr Kwong said one of the key initiatives in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's "Digital 21" IT Strategy was to promote electronic business.

To do this, he said, the Government is determined to create an environment in which the public can readily and willingly engage in electronic transactions.

"We have decided to introduce the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) Scheme which will enable the public to transact business with Government departments round the clock, by using their PCs at home or in the office, interactive TV, interactive public pay phones, or other electronic devices. We will also use the scheme to drive the development of electronic commerce in Hong Kong," he said.

"We will select a private sector partner, through an open tender, who will act as the ESD service provider. The invitation for tender has been issued on 22 January 1999.

"I encourage British companies who might be interested in this project to examine the tender invitation closely, team up with local Hong Kong companies as appropriate to obtain the necessary local skills and knowledge and send in their proposals before 9 April 1999."

In parallel with the introduction of ESD, Mr Kwong said the Government was working on several fundamental issues which were essential to the development of electronic business in Hong Kong.

These include the establishment of a common Chinese language interface to facilitate the exchange of information between Government and the public; the establishment of Certification Authorities to ensure the security and integrity of electronic transactions; and the introduction of legislation to ensure that electronic transactions are accorded the same degree of recognition and protection in law as their paper-based counterparts.

He believed that with the establishment of an enabling and attractive environment, electronic commerce would expand and take off more quickly.

Mr Kwong also spoke on Hong Kong's software industry which, according to a recent survey, would see the largest expansion in the coming years despite the economic downturn.

This is attributable to the fact that, apart from the local market, Hong Kong software vendors are working closely with their counterparts in the Mainland of China in developing application software which can serve the specific needs of the China market.

"I should point out that Hong Kong can act as a good conduit for British companies which want to do business there," he said. "We have managers and IT professionals who have a good understanding of the market in the Mainland, its customer characteristics and business needs.

"They can help to open the right doors and lay the necessary foundation for business ventures much more quickly than anybody else can," he added.

Mr Kwong told the audience that Hong Kong had seen an exponential growth in the use of the Internet. Statistics at the end of 1998 show that there were some one million Internet users in Hong Kong. In addition, there are now more than 130 Internet service providers in the territory offering Internet services which cater for the specific needs and interests of local users.

Although there is a lot of demand for Internet services and content in Hong Kong, he believed that an even greater potential lay in the development and supply of those services and content from Hong Kong to the rest of the world, especially the Mainland of China.

Furthermore, he saw a growing demand for Chinese content not only in the Mainland of China, but also in Chinese speaking communities overseas.

He pointed out that Hong Kong, as a bilingual city, was well placed to provide Chinese language support for the development of Chinese Internet content and related applications.

And, coupled with its excellent telecommunications infrastructure and unique position as a Special Administrative Region of China, it is also well placed to develop itself into an Internet traffic and content hub of the region.

"For British IT companies which are advanced in networking hardware and software, or Internet-based applications, there are clearly opportunities for them to partner with Hong Kong companies in this quest of ours," Mr Kwong said.

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