Hong Kong and the Netherlands Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in information technology, information services and telecommunications.

The MOU envisages a wide range of cooperative activities between the two places, ranging from commercial and industrial exchanges to investment and technology partnerships, and from exchange of information on policy and regulatory framework to promoting business collaboration, said Alan Siu, deputy secretary for Hong Kong Information Technology and Broadcasting.

Siu said the signing of the MOU is a significant step forward in fostering a closer relationship between Hong Kong and the Netherlands in the fields of IT and telecommunications.

"International cooperation is crucial to ensure our success in the knowledge-based economy. This is a key element under our Digital 21 Strategy," Siu said.

"Through this cooperative framework, both Hong Kong and the Netherlands can build on each other's strength to enhance the development of IT and telecommunications in both places, and create new business opportunities for each other's industry," he added.

Siu also welcomed the decision of Dutch electronics company Philips to put its Asia base in Hong Kong. Philips has announced that its office in Singapore will be moved to Hong Kong for consolidation with its local office here to form its Asia-Pacific Headquarters.

There are now over 260 Dutch companies in Hong Kong and over a hundred of them have set up regional headquarters or regional offices here.

"As China has entered into the World Trade Organization, we can build on our competitive edges to help our counterparts in the Netherlands to explore the massive opportunities in the IT and telecommunications fields in the Mainland market," Siu added.

Hong Kong has since May 1998 entered into similar arrangements on IT cooperation with nine other countries which are advanced in the use of IT. This is also the fifth MOU that Hong Kong has entered into with members of the EU. Other EU countries have also expressed keen interest in concluding similar arrangements with Hong Kong.

Under these cooperative arrangements, Hong Kong and its EU partners will organize a wide range of collaborative activities which will benefit each other. These include participation in ITU Telecom Asia 2002 in Hong Kong, an organization of physical and virtual trade missions for the IT and telecommunications companies.

( April 10, 2002)