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The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) today (April 1) launched the new Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme (SERAP), to encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises to conduct research and development activities and develop innovative ideas.
Under the new programme, application criteria will be relaxed, allowing companies with less than 100 employees to apply. Previously, only companies with less than 20 employees could apply.
"We hope that the relaxation of the application criteria will provide further impetus to the development of applied scientific research and promote the development of value-added industries and a knowledge-based economy," a spokesman for the ITC said.
SERAP is one of the four funding programmes set up in 1999 under the Innovation and Technology Fund with an allocation of $5 billion. Through the programme, the Government has been providing pre-venture capital funding to technology entrepreneurs and small technology-based companies to undertake projects that had innovative, technological content, and business potential.
So far, more than 260 companies have benefited from the scheme with funding support of more than $270 million.
Any Hong Kong registered companies with less than 100 employees, which have sound ideas with innovation and technological content and want to turn them into successful businesses, are welcome to apply.
Details of the new SERAP scheme are available on www.itf.gov.hk.
Ends/Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:22
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