HK Encourages M-commerce: Official

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government encourages local businesses to make use of the developed information infrastructure to adopt mobile-commerce to seize its huge business potential, a Hong Kong official said Thursday.

Cheng Yan-chee, acting director of Information Technology Services, speaking at a m-commerce conference that Hong Kong's " advanced telecommunications infrastructure" is one of the region's "key strengths."

"We have one of the most vibrant mobile telecommunications markets in the world with a mobile phone service penetration rate of 78 percent, which is amongst the highest in the world," he said.

Broadband networks now cover all commercial buildings and over 95 percent of the households in Hong Kong and, according to a recent industry research, 60 percent of Internet users will go on- line using mobile devices by 2005.

"However, only seven percent of companies world-wide now have web sites that are accessible with these devices. You can see a huge business potential there," Cheng noted.

To retain Hong Kong's competitive edge and drive its overall economic expansion, Cheng said the government announced the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy in early May, setting out the vision to make Hong Kong a leading e-business community and digital city.

The official promised to continue to encourage competition and innovation under an open, fair and predictable regulatory framework to ensure that Hong Kong can have a world-class telecommunications platform sustainable to the rapid growth of e- commerce.

Apart from the well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, Cheng said the government has also established the information infrastructure necessary for the development of m-commerce in Hong Kong.

The e-commerce conference was held in coordination with the 17th International Computer Expo 2001, the largest expo of its kind in Hong Kong.

During the four-day computer fair, from May 24 to 27, over 350 companies will be showcasing their latest products and m-commerce solutions in the 16,000 square meters exhibition area.






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