The International Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Expo will be held in Hong Kong from April 14 to 17, 2004.

Hong Kong's Trade Development Council (TDC) and the Torch Hi-Tech Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology signed a cooperation contract in Hong Kong Wednesday.

According to the cooperation agreement, the Torch Center will mobilize Mainland's software sector to participate in the Expo.

The ICT Expo is an evolved version of TDC's Hong Kong Information Infrastructure Expo (II Expo). It will be held concurrently with TDC's Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring edition).

TDC's Director of Exhibition Benjamin Chau said: "The cooperation with Torch will enable Mainland software companies to have better access to the world market through Hong Kong."

"Local and overseas industry players may also find potential mainland partners at the ICT Expo. The Expo will be an ideal point from which Hong Kong and international ICT companies can explore the possibilities of the vast market on the mainland," he said.

The ICT Expo will have 10 themed zones including telecom services, mobile and wireless technologies, digital entertainment, digital imaging, enterprise solutions, home-grown technologies, e-logistics and retail technologies, Linux applications and trade related services.

An international conference will also be held during the Expo for participants to share insights on hot ICT topics.

Hong Kong's information and communication technology market is one of the most developed in the region. IT spending reached 19.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2.53 billion) in 2002 and was among the highest in Asia on a per capita basis.

According to a report of the International Telecommunication Union's, Hong Kong is the top of the world in the Mobile/Internet Index ranking. The Index measures how an economy is performing in terms of information and communication technologies.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2003)