Initiatives to enhance competitiveness in digital economy

October 22, 1999

The Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr K C Kwong, urged Member economies of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) to tackle cross-border regulatory issues, which may arise in the face of the rapid growth in Internet use and electronic commerce, through bilateral co-operation and multi-lateral collaboration.

Mr Kwong was addressing the conference held concurrently with the 13th General Meeting of PECC in Manila this (Friday) morning on the topic "The Digital Economy in the 21st Century".

He told the conference that to promote the development of a digital economy, it was necessary to build up the telecommunications infrastructure to provide a high capacity communications systems for the community, and to strengthen the Internet connectivity in order to access the global market created by the ever-expanding Internet work.

On telecommunications infrastructure, Mr Kwong said, Hong Kong is well connected with the rest of the world. The total external capacity of submarine cables stands at 19 Gbps at present, but this is due to be doubled to 39 Gbps by the end of this year with the commissioning of a new submarine cable system. To further enhance this capacity, Hong Kong has decided to issue new licences for external telecommunication operators who land new cables in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has also adopted an "open sky" policy to encourage innovative use of satellite and other wireless transmission means to provide broadband services.

As regards the use of IT, a recent survey by the University of Hong Kong indicates that the PC home penetration rate in Hong Kong stands at 58.6 per cent. And there are 135 licensed Internet Service Providers serving over one million Internet users.

"With our excellent telecommunications infrastructure, our widespread IT use, our unique position vis-a-vis the Mainland of China and our bilingual language capability, Hong Kong is very well placed to serve as the information gateway to the Mainland," Mr Kwong said.

Mr Kwong also outlined a range of Government initiatives under the "Digital 21" Information Technology Strategy launched last year to promote the wider use of IT in the community.

These include the launching of the Interactive Government Services Directory to provide Government services over the Internet; the offer of free e-mail accounts to Hong Kong citizens; the holding of various exhibitions and seminars on the use of IT; and the introduction of the Electronic Services Delivery scheme to pump-prime the development of e-commerce in the private sector.

The Government has also introduced a Five-year Strategy on IT for Learning in a New Era and will spend $3.2 billion in capital expenditure and $556 million annually over the current five-year forecast period to develop IT in education. The target is to have 25 per cent of the school curriculum taught through IT by the 2002/03 school year.

"The aim of all these initiatives is to ensure that Hong Kong will develop into a leading digital city in the globally connected world of the 21st century," he said.

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