High level exchange between HK, Canada in Ottawa

October 14, 2000

Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, led a Hong Kong IT delegation to a meeting with the Canadian Minister of Industry, John Manley, and Canadian high tech companies today (October 14).

Mr Manley warmly welcomed Mrs Yau and the Hong Kong IT delegation. He was impressed by the rapid IT development in Hong Kong lately. He indicated tremendous interest in the Cyberport project and saw many cooperation opportunities in Hong Kong for the Canadian IT sector.

Mr Manley introduced the IT development initiatives in Canada including "SmartCapital", "Connecting the Canadians" and "SchoolNet". He said Canada was an exemplar of providing public services on-line and high Internet connectivity.

"I am excited by the e-learning initiatives and electronic devices developed for this purpose in Canada. Hong Kong is following the same track as Canada and we have in fact invested substantially in linking up schools and universities via the digital network. There are plenty of opportunities for Canadian companies specializing on e-learning," Mrs Yau remarked.

At the meeting, Mrs Yau echoed Hong Kong's commitment in improving its soft and hard infrastructure to meet the challenges of the knowledge-based new economy as stated in the Chief Executive's Policy Address.

Mrs Yau briefed Mr Manley on the timeframe of the Cyberport project and the 3G licensing procedures in Hong Kong. She also invited the Minister to lead a delegation to participate in the Information Infrastructure Expo to be held in Hong Kong in February 2001.

The Canadian and Hong Kong company representatives joined the discussion by offering their views on areas where the two sides could cooperate. Mr Manley and Canadian companies including MDS Nordion, Reid Eddison Corporation and iMPath were confident that China's imminent accession to the WTO would further enhance Hong Kong's role as a regional IT hub and Hong Kong would benefit from the opening of the IT and telecommunications market in China.

Hong Kong companies including iSteel.com and Hong Kong First Telecom Ltd. were eager to link up with their Canadian counterparts for wireless and e-commerce cooperation.

Both Mrs Yau and Mr Manley agreed that content and applications were the two principal areas for development in the IT field in the future. Both sides expressed keen interest to pursue more collaborative activities which were mandated under the MOU of Information and Telecommunications Technologies between Canada and Hong Kong.

In the afternoon, Mrs Yau delivered a speech at a luncheon co-organized by the Ottawa Centre of Research and Innovation and Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Ottawa) and visited Nortel Networks Corp. near Kanata which is at the heart of the Silicon Valley North.

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