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The Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into a regional intellectual property (IP) trading hub for co-ordinating IP business activities, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, said at a luncheon of the Business of Intellectual Property Asia Forum today (December 4).
Mr So said the opportunities are particularly visible in Hong Kong as the trend of use and creation of IP is shifting towards Asia in view of the economic development on the Mainland. Given the Mainland's insatiable demand for IP rights and IP intermediary services, this presents huge market potential for the world to harness.
As a regional marketplace and service centre for activities such as copyright trading, licensing and franchising, design services and technology transfer, Hong Kong has seen average annual growth of 8 per cent in the value of export of services relating to the use of IP since 2007, reaching about $4 billion in 2012. The value of import of services relating to the use of IP, at over $15 billion in 2012, has registered an annual growth rate of 6 per cent since 2007.
Mr So said Hong Kong is fully equipped to pioneer in new frontiers in the evolving IP landscape, noting its sound legal and financial infrastructure, highly open markets, deep pool of bilingual and experienced IP talent and robust IP regime in full compliance with the requirements of international IP treaties, as well as low-tax regime and world-class business professionals.
With its unique characteristics, Hong Kong can act as an IP middleman connecting buyers and sellers to partners on the Mainland and across Asia, as a sourcing platform for business-matching and trading in the IP realm, as an intermediary service provider supplying one-stop service in IP trading, and as a modifier or customiser of IP to suit the special needs of Mainland buyers, he added.
"To forge ahead, I have been chairing a Working Group on IP Trading since March last year. Based on a Strategic Framework it promulgated last year, the Working Group has been exploring specific policies and other support measures that would bring our offerings in the IP realm to a new height," Mr So said.
He noted that work has already started in the areas of strengthening Hong Kong's IP regime, supporting IP creation and exploitation, fostering IP intermediary services and manpower capacity, and pursuing promotion, education and collaboration efforts following the Working Group's advice.
"The Working Group has completed its deliberation on all the strategic areas under the Strategic Framework, and will submit a report with comprehensive recommendations to the Government for consideration early next year," he said.
Ends/Thursday, December 4, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:53
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