Hong Kong’s academic research and education on biological science and medicine have a good reputation and rank among the best in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) Duncan Pescod said.

Speaking at the Hong Kong Denmark Joint Conference on Nanomedicine and Synthetic Biology at Hong Kong Science Park on March 11, Mr. Pescod said the conference marked a step toward closer collaboration on science and technology as a direct result of the collaboration agreement on science and technology signed by Hong Kong and Denmark in May 2009.

“Under the agreement, biotechnology and medical life science, nanotechnology and advanced materials, solar energy and energy efficiency were identified as areas where our initial collaboration efforts are most likely to bear fruit,” he added.

Deputy Director General, Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Hans Müller Pedersen, said the cooperation agreement was an important avenue to enhance the exchange of knowledge between Hong Kong and Denmark.

As a follow-up to this agreement, the Hong Kong and Danish governments have jointly organized the conference to explore the latest issues in the development of nanotechnology and synthetic biology.

The conference is part of a three-day exchange program jointly organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission and the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to advance the Memorandum of Understanding.

Under the program, a business matching event will be held on March 12 to bring together biotech companies from Hong Kong and Denmark to explore opportunities for business and technology cooperation.

Mr. Pescod said Hong Kong’s scientific contributions in genomic projects, and the identification and characterization of emerging infectious diseases with special reference to the work on SARS and the avian flu virus, were widely acknowledged by the international research community.

He noted that in recognition of Hong Kong’s scientific achievements and research prominence, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China had approved the establishment of a total of 12 Partner State Key Laboratories in five local universities.  

The State Key Laboratories serve as the national base for the highest level of research and development, as well as catalysts for scholarly exchange.

Mr. Pescod said, “Hong Kong also has two excellent medical schools rated among the best in the world in the field of clinical medicine.

“Our nanotech research is equally competitive.  Indeed, it is a little-known fact that Hong Kong is the birthplace of the world's smallest single-walled carbon nanotubes,” he added.

Mr. Pescod said that the government had set up a US$641.02 million Innovation and Technology Fund, which had supported more than 200 biotechnology and nanotechnology projects, with funding commitment close to US$97.43 million.

Another major source of research funding for nanotechnology, biology and medical research is the Research Grants Council, which emphasizes basic and upstream research.  In 2009-2010, the Council awarded more than US$21.28 million for 171 biology and medicine-related research projects.