Speech by Mr. Howard C Dickson, Government Chief Information Officer, at the Launch of "Digital Pioneers - Young Creative Entrepreneur Network"
11 - 10 - 2006

Ms Gee, Mr Bradley, Mr Livingstone, Nick, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning. It is my pleasure to speak here today on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong SAR as one of the sponsors of the Digital Pioneers.

This is the first Young Creative Entrepreneur Network programme in the digital entertainment and digital media industries, and has been launched by the British Council and the Hong Kong Cyberport.

The Government of the Hong Kong SAR has been putting enormous efforts and resources into the development of the local digital entertainment industry.

One of the examples is the Hong Kong Cyberport, a partner of this programme and Hong Kong's IT flagship. Hong Kong Cyberport is the one-stop hub, providing not only a variety of infrastructure, resources and support services to the local digital entertainment industry, but also a full range of industry incubation, training and support services to nurture entrepreneurs.

Moreover, the Hong Kong Cyberport plays a crucial role in bridging the local digital entertainment industry to their counterparts on the Mainland China and in overseas countries, opening up new development and cooperation opportunities for us all.

Hong Kong and the UK have a long history of cooperation ..........in many areas. With the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in ICT between the Hong Kong and the UK governments in 2004, such relationship is further strengthened in the interest of the peoples of Hong Kong and the UK.

The Digital Pioneers - Young Creative Entrepreneur programme, in the concerted efforts of the British Council and the Hong Kong Cyberport, exemplifies a good model of such collaboration under the MoU framework. Here, I would like to encourage all young people in Hong Kong to grab this opportunity and benefit themselves with this wonderful and extraordinary resources and network.

I look forward to the flourishing cluster being added to the digital media industry and the novel network between Hong Kong and the UK.

To our young participants, we wish you every success and don't forget to exploit your imagination and dream a little.

Thank you.

- END -