In a recent policy address, the Hong Kong government announced the proposal to set up a $2 billion Innovation and Technology Venture Fund for co-investing with private venture capital funds on a matching basis on technology start-ups.
In addition, Cyberport will allocate $200 million to launch a Cyberport Macro Fund for investing in its information and communications technology start-ups.
The government is also expected to continue providing full assistance to start-ups at different stages of development.
The Innovation and Technology Bureau was established on November 20 last year.
To begin, providing support to start-ups is of particular importance to the development of innovation and technology (I&T).
However, start-ups will only thrive with capital injection at their various stages of progress.
Currently, through the incubation programmes of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Cyberport, the government provides a comprehensive support to start-ups, including concessionary rents, common facilities, etc.
The already present Innovation and Technology Fund, the Corporate Venture Fund of HKSTP, the Cyberport Creative Micro fund as well as different subsidy schemes by universities have aid in providing capital that is required by technology start-ups for development.
At present, all stakeholders, including the relevant government bureaux and departments, research and development centres, HKSTP, the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, etc., publish their financial statements, progress reports, and other different information and data through different channels, including the Government Budget, annual reports, websites and press releases, etc.
Each institution will also report its work progress and outcomes regularly to the relevant Panel of the Legislative Council.
Thus this recent development, of actively pursuing each area of work, including the new initiatives relating to I&T development and studying of the formulation of effective key performance indicators will continue to ensure that there will be clear indication of the progress (including discussions with stakeholders) and timetable of the work priorities as well as the expected dates for conducting extensive consultation with the industry and the public.
This move would also ensure an increase in the transparency of their bureaucratic process as it will allow Hong Kong to compile and publish more diversified statistics. This will also help in facilitate the public in monitoring the benefits generated by the investment in innovation and technology by public resources.
Thus, with these recent developments, we can expect to see positive impacts to Hong Kong technological advancement progress as well as a more efficient and transparent bureaucratic process.
Image from Jo Schmaltz– CC BY SA 2.0