Good day for Tung as Philips completes long walk to Science Park

Dutch electronics giant launches regional and global offices, becoming first multinational to set up shop at hi-tech centre

With his technology development policies often criticised, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa could get used to more days like yesterday, when Royal Philips Electronics opened a clutch of regional and global offices in Hong Kong.

Philips launched a new six-storey building at the Hong Kong Science Park in Tai Po, becoming its first major multinational corporate tenant and propping up government efforts to establish a cluster of high-technology research and development facilities at the site.

The Dutch giant, which moved its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong, also inaugurated its new regional base at Three Pacific Place in Wan Chai.

'This represents a vote of confidence in the future of Hong Kong,' said Andreas Wente, the president and chief executive of Philips Electronics Asia-Pacific.

More than two years after it signed on as a tenant, Philips has relocated to the Science Park the global headquarters for its consumer audio-visual electronics business, Philips Mobile Infotainment, and its small displays unit, Mobile Display Systems.

The company also set up the Asia-Pacific office for Philips Design at the park, which now provides its largest design studios in the world with a floor area of 89,000 square feet.