The number of registered Web sites with a '.hk' suffix is expected to soar after next month's introduction of policies aimed at providing more naming flexibility, according to Hong Kong Domain Name Registration (HKDNR) chief executive Francis Chin Yuk-lun.
The changes 'will open up many legal business opportunities for Hong Kong businesses', Mr Chin said. 'We are looking forward to a warm response in the community.'
Starting on June 1, companies will be able to register multiple domain names. Also, the ownership of a domain can be transferred without a charge.
Mr Chin said the changes were expected to spur small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to set up .hk Web sites.
He estimated that 300,000 such sites could be registered by 2008, assuming 80 per cent of Hong Kong's SMEs had them.
HKDNR has 50,000 domain names with suffix .hk at present.
Other countries experienced trouble attracting registration using the country short-form as a suffix because of the unpopularity, but Mr Chin said Hong Kong companies would find it more useful with a .hk Web site.