XN000022-1996-12-23 — Page 19

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They may also be obtained from AFD headquarters on 12th floor of Canton Road Government Offices, Ta Kwu Ling Pig Breeding Centre in Ping Che, as well as district agricultural offices in Yuen Long and Tai Po Government Offices.

Further enquiries can be directed to the Licensing Unit on 2462 7422 or 2462 7443.

End

223 applications for Industrial Support Fund received

A total of 223 applications for the Industrial Support Fund (ISF) for the 1997/98 financial year had been received at the closing date on December 2.

Subject to the approval of the Legislative Council, the provision for ISF in 1997-98 would be around $300 million. Of this amount, some $90 million have been committed to on-going projects approved in the previous three years. This leaves about $210 million for new projects commencing in 1997-98.

Most of the 223 projects proposed will last two or three years, and the amount requested is $850 million. The amount requested in 1997-98 is $428.5 million.

Same as last year, the bulk of applications came from the tertiary institutions, with 172 applications or 77 per cent of the total. The rest were from industry support bodies, professional bodies, research institutes, as well as trade and industry organisations.

Broken down according to industrial sectors, the applications fell into seven categories. The biotechnology category tops the list with 88 applications, followed by the general technology category (54 applications), electronics (29 applications), information technology (20 applications), plastics (nine applications), metals (eight applications), and textiles and clothing (15 applications).

Announcing this today (Monday), the Assistant Director-General of Industry, Ms Annie Choi, said she was satisfied with the large number of applications received. A series of meetings would be held by the sector specific committees under the Industry and Technology Development Council (ITDC) in February and March 1997 to consider the applications, which would then be examined by a special Projects Vetting Committee before submission to the ITDC for approval. The result of the vetting exercise would be announced in May.