Pledge to provide reliable, secure environment for e-commerce

July 24, 2000

The Government is actively working on the development of information infrastructure to create an excellent, reliable and secure environment for conducting e-commerce, the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, said.

Speaking at the opening of the Chinese University of Hong Kong-Elec & Eltek Technology Centre today (July 24), Mrs Yau said that as we entered the Information Age, enterprises were facing more and more challenges posed by the continuous revolution of information and communications technologies.

"Like it or not, we have to find ways to turn these challenges into opportunities or we may risk lagging behind a trend that will substantially change the face of the entire world, both in business and cultural senses," she said.

She noted that on the business front, IT was now used in almost every aspect of business activities - from managing customer relation to allocating enterprise resources, from exploring new markets to designing products, etc. Being "IT-enabled" is gradually emerging as a pre-requisite for success in business competition.

To foster a secure environment for e-transactions, Mrs Yau said the Government had set up early this year its own local public key infrastructure and provided certification services through the Hongkong Post; and enacted the Electronic Transactions Ordinance in February this year to provide a clear legal framework for the development of e-commerce and to give electronic records and digital signatures the necessary legal recognition.

The Government will also launch the Electronic Services Delivery scheme before the end of this year to provide Government services on-line so as to facilitate and encourage the conduct of transactions over the Internet. In additon, it is working with the Hong Kong Productivity Council and other professional bodies to provide assistance in the form of funding, consultancy, training and provision of application software, for enterprises, particularly those of small and medium size, to migrate to the information economy.

To establish close ties with other economies which are advanced in IT development, Mrs Yau told the audience that the Government had so far entered into collaborative arrangements in the form of Memorandum of Understanding with six countries, namely Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, India and Israel.

The areas for cooperation cover a wide range of activities, including development of multi-media and software applications and products, electronic commerce, Internet applications, exchange of latest IT information, etc.

She strongly encouraged university students to establish ties and look for joint R&D projects with these economies, adding that the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau and the respective Consulate Generals in Hong Kong stand ready to offer assistance and to serve as a bridge to facilitate the collaborations.

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