Asian countries and regions should enhance their efforts to develop a knowledge-based economy through greater efforts in education, said Tung Chee-hwa, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), at the Boao Forum for Asia, which closed on Saturday.
In the second plenary session of the forum, titled "Asia's Competitiveness in the Knowledge Economy Era," Tung expressed his confidence in the future of the region to advance a knowledge-based economy to catch up with Europe and the United States.
"It is never too late for us to take the train of information technology renovation, despite most countries in Asia lagging behind in the industrial revolution," said the Hong Kong leader.
To complete this task, he said Asia must gain a large pool of highly skilled labor sources and bring people's attention to education.
"Through education, we can fully harness the large pool of potential resources," said Tung, promising Hong Kong will try to help its neighbors achieve this goal.
He was echoed by Bernd A Stecher, corporate vice-president and chief economist of Siemens AG, at the forum.
Besides formal education, Stecher also stressed the importance of professional education. Management training in a knowledge-based economy should be a key focus, he said, noting Asia does not lack high technology expertise but mainly experience in the management of a knowledge-based economy.
"But Asia is certain to succeed, as people there are happy to learn," said Stecher, who claimed that half of Siemens employees in China have received advanced management training.
Despite the potential advantage Asia may have in developing such an economy, further reforms are needed to realize the potential, urged speakers at the forum.
Heizou Takenaka, Japan's minister for economy and finance, revealed the country was launching basic structural reform to fuel its progress in a knowledge-based economy.
Highly trained personnel and heavy equipment investment are essential for success, as is an efficient service network to encourage innovation, the minister said at Saturday's forum.
"We will have to progress our technology to catch up with trade liberalization, as well as improve intellectual property rights," he said.
Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of China's Legend Holdings, the largest PC maker in Asia, echoed such a viewpoint.
"The reform in property rights is the most basic reason for Legend to achieve such a great achievement in the era of a knowledge-based economy," claimed Liu, citing that 35 per cent of Legend's shares have been sold to its employees to stimulate their enthusiasm.
(China Daily April 15, 2002)
