Central govt’s support prods HK to pursue powerhouse dream
Nancy Ip Yuk-yu works in the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is the director of the laboratory, which was established in 2009.
Technological breakthroughs are key drivers of economic growth and societal development. Hong Kong is no exception. With internationally competitive universities and a wealth of awardwinning talents, the city has a solid foundation of developing basic scientific research.
Yet the city’s road to develop sci-tech needed a nudge, with attempts to transfer these hard-won research findings into commercial products usually encountering numerous obstacles due to resource and space constraints.
President Xi’s letter came into play when the city’s scientists and researchers were beleaguered and battered by the lack of impetus.
Xi pledged his full support to our request to relax the mainland’s funding and resources flow into Hong Kong for research purposes, which injected a fresh impetus into our research sector.
The letter brought up a vital policy breakthrough, which allows universities and research institutions in Hong Kong to apply for the research funding of the central government as well as relevant government agencies at provincial and municipal levels on the mainland, and use this funding in Hong Kong.
It enabled Hong Kong-based researchers to tap into the vast research opportunities and funding on the mainland. The policy also encouraged more local technology talent to collaborate with their mainland counterparts and participate in essential technology missions of the country.
With this milestone decision, the scope and scale of mainland-Hong Kong technological collaborations has also been greatly expanded, with the two sides’ complementary strengths being fully leveraged. Hong Kong has been better positioned to share the tech dividends of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s mainland cities.
The nation is now in full swing to evolve into a global tech powerhouse, and Hong Kong has much to offer to achieve the lofty goal. Hong Kong’s research capabilities are well recognized both nationally and internationally. Biotechnology is one of the areas where Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages and aligns well with the country’s strategic needs.
If I had a second chance to write a letter to President Xi, I would express my sincere gratitude for the central government’s tremendous support. Local researchers are highly committed and motivated to enhance Hong Kong’s research strengths and make the city a global inno-tech hub to serve the country’s needs.
Nancy Ip Yuk-yu,
Neurobiologist; Hong Kong member of Chinese Academy of Sciences; incoming president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
She signed the joint letter
written to Xi in 2017.