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SCMP Reporter

The HK$15.6 billion CyberPort project is on track, with up to 20 companies ready to move in as early as April, according to a government official.

Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau deputy secretary Annie Tam Kam-lan said the CyberPort project was on schedule and had not experienced any delays in construction.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of March.

As of the end of September, HK$1.16 billion had been invested in the project.

Pacific Century CyberWorks, the developer of the project, had had no trouble in financing the project, Ms Tam said.

About 200,000 square feet of gross floor surface would be available for lease on opening, she added.

'The first phase can only house not more than 20 companies,' she said.

So far, she said, the Government had received 69 applications from IT companies seeking to become anchor talents in the CyberPort project.

The CyberPort selection committee was processing the applications to decide which companies would be housed in CyberPort when it opened in April, Ms Tam said.

Some companies have been approved, but Ms Tam refused to disclose their names.

In all, 15 information-services and IT companies have signed letters indicating their intention to become anchor tenants.

These include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Softbank and Yahoo!.

However, it is not known if these companies will be among the first batch of firms to move into CyberPort.

Ms Tam said the Government aimed to fill the project with a mix of large and medium-sized, local and international IT firms.

'If we house only giant international companies, people would complain we give favour to big companies. If we approve more local companies, people would also complain,' Ms Tam said.

'So it has got to be a balance mixture.'

CyberPort is a joint venture project between Richard Li Tzar-kai's Pacific Century CyberWorks and the Government.

The Government owns the land, while CyberWorks has the development right.

CyberPort is an infrastructure project in which the Government aims to support Hong Kong's IT development.

The development is being built on 24 hectares of land at Telegraph Bay, near Pokfulam on Hong Kong Island.
The project has been divided into three phases and is scheduled to be fully completed in 2007.



IT firms line up for 'on track' CyberPort