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SCMP Reporter

Way behind the rush to develop the Cyberport, work on Hong Kong's other high-technology project - the Science Park - plods along at tortoise speed. But unlike the fable of the hare and the tortoise, the winners in the hi-tech race are usually those running ahead of the rest.

 Having taken so long to get started, there is now some concern that the $3.3-billion Science Park, to be built in Tai Po, will be overshadowed by the $13-billion Cyberport.

 Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, in his 1997 policy address, earmarked the Science Park to help launch new technology-based industries in Hong Kong, including biotechnology, electronics, precision engineering and information technology.

 Construction of the park was slated to begin in 1998. But land is still being reclaimed at the Pak Shek Kok site in Tai Po, just across from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 The Industry Department, responsible for developing the park, says land will now be ready for construction in 2000 - two years behind schedule. And it will take a total of 15 years to develop the 22-hectare site in three phases.

 The department's assistant director-general for infrastructure support, Agnes Wong, says an eight-hectare area (Phase I) will be completed by the second half of 2001.

 By comparison, since Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's announcement in March of the privately backed Cyberport project, plans are already underway to complete the 26-hectare development by 2001.

 The Science Park has been long in the planning. The Government first carried out a feasibility study in 1992, which showed there was a need for it.

 Ms Wong says the 1992 study was merely preliminary, followed by another study in 1995 which went into more detail and searched for a suitable site.

 'Now, we need more time to look at the detailed implementation of the project. I know we have taken some time, but we can make it up. In any case, the Pak Shek Kok site is still being reclaimed,' she says.

 But the Science Park's role still remains vague and undefined, with the Industry Department yet to work out what the park's specific objectives and marketing strategy should be.

 'In general, the purpose of the Science Park is to be a catalyst to upgrade Hong Kong's technology level by stimulating locally based companies and attracting technology-based firms from overseas,' Ms Wong says.

 It should be a place for researchers to network between themselves and with others from universities, industry and other science parks, she says.

 The Industry Department set up the Provisional Science Park Company in May last year. But the work of the company's board of 14 appointed members, including leading industrialists, academics and government representatives, has so far not been visible. Ms Wong says the company's main role has been to search for a chief executive.

 She says the appointment of a CEO will be announced very soon, but declines to give more details. The CEO is expected to determine the Science Park's strategy.

 Yet the Cyberport has a definite marketing strategy and has already captured the stated interest of some big-name anchor tenants, such as Yahoo!, IBM, Oracle Systems, Sybase and Hewlett-Packard.

 With no clear strategy, some groups such as the Citizens Party have questioned the usefulness of the park. Citizens Party researcher Lisa Hopkinson says: 'The vision of a Science Park has not been clearly articulated by anybody. The rationale seems to be, we have some reclaimed land so let's put a Science Park there because we don't know what to do with it.'  She points out the park consultants have said a 'champion' is needed to spearhead the project. But party chair Christine Loh Kung-wai fears bureaucrats may administer the park instead. 'If you don't have a strong leader or vision it is hard to advocate specific objectives,' she said.

 And the site may not be the best, as the early government surveys have shown multinational and hi-tech companies prefer a site in urban Kowloon, says Ms Hopkinson.

 Ms Loh also says that recent changes to the definition of industrial buildings means there may not be a need for a special set-aside site at all. Industrial buildings used to be available only for manufacturing, and that left many buildings empty when these firms moved over the border to find cheaper land and labour. But now the Government has relaxed the rule so industrial means not only manufacturing but service providers, hi-tech developments, biotechnology and Internet and software companies. So older-style industrial buildings can be modified for modern use.

 'So the question is, do we need to build a Science Park when we can use current industrial buildings, which are mostly unoccupied because the manufacturing industry has moved off?' says Ms Loh.

 By taking advantage of existing buildings, hi-tech development could be integrated throughout the SAR rather than in one place away from the public. Ms Loh envisions the whole of Hong Kong being a Science Park, a Cyberport or a hi-tech centre. The right facilities and equipment could be installed into current buildings to provide for most hi-tech industries involved in research and development, she says.

 'It seems the Government believes they are doing something if they build hardware . . . and that's it,' says Ms Loh.

 Ms Wong seems to agree that the Government's role is simply to provide the special site. 'The Science Park is mainly an infrastructure project,' she says.

 But what of the research culture, the 'software'? Many people feel Hong Kong is not yet strong enough to support industries that rely on cutting-edge research and well-trained researchers. For instance, Dr Frederick Leung Chi-ching, a geneticist at the University of Hong Kong, says more must be done to nurture the right environment in Hong Kong to develop hi-tech industries successfully.

 Dr Leung says the Science Park must not become like the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology (HKIB), which though full of tenants and with a new Good Manufacturing Practice plant for making vaccines, has not attracted much funding.

 Associate director Dr Simon Kwong Chi-wai says that 'in terms of research in pharmaceuticals and basic traditional Chinese medicine, and support for start-up companies, we are highly successful'.

 But the HKIB does not get enthusiastic support from the private sector or the Government, he says, and can only raise seven or eight per cent of its required funding.

 'Also, Hong Kong does not have enough manpower to build up the critical mass of researchers needed to support the biotechnology industry,' says Dr Kwong. It is crucial that Hong Kong attracts experienced researchers and entrepreneurs back from abroad, especially North America and Europe, he says. 'There are also a lot of good researchers from China.'  Dr Leung agrees with Dr Kwong, but says the HKIB has been mismanaged. 'The current directors are trying really hard, but the failure is there to see,' he says. Biotechnology, like any other hi-tech industry, requires support from the Government and industry, as well as academic entrepreneurship, Dr Leung says.

 'We need the proper policies, money and ideas to cultivate the research culture that is sorely lacking in Hong Kong. It's really a tripartite operation combining the Government, private sector and academia,' Dr Leung says. All three elements are present, but need a kick-start.

 'We can't wait for the Science Park to be ready. Hong Kong is in a critical transitional time, we need a Science Park now,' he says.

 But, he adds, compared with Asia's present science parks in Singapore, Taiwan and Japan, Hong Kong has a great opportunity to catch up with hi-tech developments. And if the right support and attitude develops, then perhaps Hong Kong's hi-tech industries will even overtake the 'hi-tech hares' and lead the pack, Dr Leung says.



The go-slow Science Park