Arthur Tsang is a researcher in tech innovation at Our Hong Kong Foundation. He is also a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies and holds a master’s degree in comparative political economy from the London School of Economics.
New infrastructure does not mean that technological innovation will automatically follow. We will need incentives to draw tech talent to live and work in the area, and policies that encourage research and collaboration.
The city is a major financing centre for biotechnology; it must now cement its reputation as a research hub. It already has two key advantages: world-class universities and a wealth of clinical and medical data.
On the mainland, a strong focus on research, and entrepreneurial spirit within academia have driven the country’s success as a breeding ground for innovation. In Hong Kong, technology development has been sluggish and entrepreneurship is less encouraged among university researchers. This must change.
An HKU team was one of the first to come up with a potential vaccine, but its bumpy development process makes one thing clear: Hong Kong has the talent but not the ecosystem to bring biotechnological breakthroughs to market.