Speech by Ir Tony Wong, JP, Commissioner for Digital Policy, at the “Government-Enterprise Dialogue of World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit” (with photos)
Secretary General Ren (Secretary General Ren Xianliang of the World Internet Conference (WIC)), Secretary Professor SUN (Professor SUN Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning! I am truly honoured to join this Government-Enterprise Dialogue, where representatives from different jurisdictions come together to discuss how to harness the opportunities brought by digital transformation and technological innovation.
To start with, I would like to share with you some exciting development in Hong Kong on artificial intelligence (AI). AI technology is recognised globally as a key driver behind the current wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation. It serves as a powerful engine for fostering new quality productive forces and achieving high-quality development.
Last year, the Central People’s Government introduced the AI+ initiative in the Government Work Report. This visionary plan aims to advance the research and implementation of frontier technologies, including big data and artificial intelligence, fostering innovation, driving sustainable growth, and building a globally competitive digital industry cluster. In Hong Kong, we have also formulated a comprehensive strategy for the development of AI. The “Hong Kong Innovation and Technology (I&T) Development Blueprint” (the I&T Blueprint), announced in December 2022, underscored our commitment to the development of AI and data science industries. The I&T Blueprint not only lays the foundation for promoting the application of AI within the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) to enhance public services, but also provides a clear direction for building an AI ecosystem and strengthening the industrial value chain in Hong Kong.
In terms of digital infrastructure, Cyberport, Hong Kong’s technology flagship, established the AI Supercomputing Centre, with the first phase of operation commenced in December last year. The computing power of the Centre is expected to reach 3 000 PFLOPS (peta-floating point operations per second) later this year and it will become one of the large-scale public supercomputing facilities in the region. The HKSAR Government further launched a $3 billion (US$384 million) AI Subsidy Scheme to support local universities, research and development (R&D) institutions and enterprises in leveraging the high-performance computing power of the AI Supercomputing Centre.
The emergence of DeepSeek earlier this year has taken the tech world by storm. Leveraging the DeepSeek technology, the Hong Kong Generative AI R&D Center (HKGAI), one of our R&D institutes formed by our local universities, updated its locally developed large language model (HKGAI V1) and released a new version of generative AI copilot application (HKPilot) to further enhance its document processing capabilities in respect of drafting, translation and summarisation of documents. The AI copilot application is already widely adopted for trial use within the Government. Apart from this, HKGAI aims to launch other AI applications including a chatbot (HKChat) for public use very soon.
To spearhead and support Hong Kong’s innovative R&D as well as industrial application of AI, this year’s Budget has also set aside $1 billion (US$128 million) for the establishment of the Hong Kong AI R&D Institute. The institute will focus on facilitating upstream R&D, midstream and downstream transformation of R&D outcomes and expanding application scenarios.
Another important topic I wish to share with the meeting is our effort in facilitating data flow in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), an important initiative to promote development of digital economy and Hong Kong’s integration into the development of the GBA and our country. We are grateful for the support of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Cyberspace Administration of Guangdong Province in enabling industries of all sectors in the nine Mainland cities in the GBA to enjoy the benefits from the GBA Standard Contract, a facilitation measure allowing the streamlined cross-boundary flow of personal information within the GBA in a safe and orderly manner. This initiative not only promotes cross-boundary services but also accelerates the growth of the digital economy and regional smart city development, solidifying the GBA as a global hub of innovation and technological advancement.
With the strong backing by the National 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong is well-positioned to emerge as a global I&T hub. Our I&T aspirations will grow even stronger as we strengthen collaboration with our sister cities in the GBA, one of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems. The Northern Metropolis, located south of Shenzhen, will act as the key gateway for this partnership. It will house a 300-hectare I&T cluster serving as a testing ground for pioneering policies that enable the secure and efficient flow of people, capital, goods and data between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. To turn these ambitions into reality, we are actively attracting strategic enterprises in the fields of AI and data science, life and health technology, fintech, as well as advanced manufacturing and new energy technology. Last Tuesday, we had a signing ceremony with the fourth batch of such partners, bringing us a total of over 80 strategic enterprises. They are set to invest some $50 billion in the city, creating some 20 000 jobs.
According to the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou science and technology cluster continues to rank second globally for the fifth consecutive year among the top 100 clusters. Being the most open and international city in the GBA, Hong Kong is known for its status as global financial, transportation and trade centres, an international aviation hub, as well as its renowned professional services, and strong talent pool, with five in world’s top 100 universities. Under “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong stands out with its unique institutional strengths. These include the continuity of the common law system, a strong IP protection regime, the exercise of independent judicial power by the Judiciary, a regulatory regime in line with international rules, and an efficient and corruption-free government. Additionally, Hong Kong boasts free-flowing capital, goods, information and people, a freely convertible currency, and a simple and low tax system. As a “super connector” and a “super value-adder”, Hong Kong bridges the dynamic markets between Mainland China and the rest of the world. We warmly invite Mainland I&T enterprises and start-ups to set foot in Hong Kong and leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantages as an ideal gateway for enterprises seeking to expand their businesses in the Southeast Asian and global markets, as well as overseas enterprises looking for business and partnership opportunities with Mainland China.
In a nutshell, I&T is empowering our dreams in an unprecedented manner, and AI development is one of the top priorities. Tremendous opportunities lie ahead and we must act decisively to seize them. As we look ahead, I want to emphasize the critical role of mutual trust and collaboration in unlocking these opportunities. Hong Kong remains a steadfast and reliable partner to enterprises around the world, ready to collaborate on transformative initiatives. Thank you.
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