XN000022-1996-04-17 — Page 6

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49 industrial projects to be financed by Government

The Industry and Technology Development Council (ITDC) today (Wednesday) approved 49 projects to be financed by the Government's $250 million Industrial Support Fund this financial year.

The fund, established in 1994/95 and provided on a yearly basis, aims at supporting industrial projects which can contribute to the overall industrial or technological development of Hong Kong and to the competitiveness of Hong Kong's manufacturing industries.

A total of 152 projects were approved in the last two financial years and 123 projects are continuing into this financial year and beyond. Industrialists generally find these projects useful.

The Secretary of ITDC and an Assistant Director-General of Industry, Ms Windy Kwok, said the objectives of the successful projects this year could be broadly categorised as infrastructural support, manpower training, environmental control, promotion of new technologies, and development of technology databases and application software.

If classified according to the relevant industrial sector, 15 are in the biotechnology sector, five in the electronics sector, eight in the information technology sector, seven in the metals sector, two in the plastics sector, six in the textiles & clothing sector and six in the general category.

"The vetting process was not easy because of the large volume and technical nature of the applications. Expert opinions from members of the various sectors of industry were sought in the vetting process, and the main criterion adopted by members of the Projects Vetting Committee of the ITDC was whether the application was 'market driven', i.e. whether there was a genuine need in the industry for the deliverables of the proposed project," she said.

The total project cost, amounting to some $177 million over a period of three years, would be disbursed to the applicant organisations according to the yearly cost estimates of individual projects.

Funds required in the 1996-97 financial year would be around $106.3 million, with a commitment of $48 million and $22.7 million for fiscal years 1997-98 and 1998-99 respectively.