Hong Kong government is committed to supporting the development of new technologies in Hong Kong, said John Tsang, secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Friday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the City University 20th Anniversary Applied Research Exhibition and Concurrent Seminar, Tsang said to capitalize on the strengths and respond to this changing economic landscape, the government has formulated a new strategy of innovation and technology development.

He said the government will focus on key technology areas where Hong Kong has competitive advantages for optimal use of resources, market-oriented innovation and technology programs and the opportunities presented by CEPA (Chinese mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) utilizing the production base in the Greater Pearl River Delta region as the platform for development of applied technology.

Tsang said the government has established a series of programs to promote local research and development activities and one of the important initiative was the 5-billion-HK-dollar (641 million US dollars) Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), which supports innovation and technology upgrading of the industry.

Over the past five years, the ITF has supported more than 600 applied research and development (R & D) projects at a total funding of some 1.6 billion HK dollars.

He pointed out that with 60,000-strong Hong Kong-related enterprises located in the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong could become the research hub for facilitating technology upgrading of the entire region.