24 3.3 Culture: Insufficient Motivation for the Development of Technology and Innovation in the Private Market 3.3.1 Insufficient motivation for the development of technology and innovation in the private market: The private sector’s support for innovation is one of the basic factors for accelerating technological development. However, Hong Kong’s research results are mainly dominated by universities and other institutions, while industry-led R&D is rare. Survey results show that among its 10 peer cities, including Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Tokyo, Hong Kong was ranked second to last in terms of availability of private funding60, talents and pilot tests, and ninth in the Start-up Index, which measures the quality of Asia’s entrepreneurial environment. Similarly, according to the study from Microsoft-IDC, only 55% of business decision-makers in Hong Kong regard innovation as an “essential” condition for improving business resilience61. Hong Kong companies have always been interested in growth and development. Unfortunately, private companies have a weak motivation to pursue cross-industry innovation. To make matters worse, under the influence of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), almost half of companies (48%) predict that their business models will lose competitiveness within five years62. The Hong Kong Investment Program of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund established a HK$1 billion fund to invest in promising local start-ups. This is an encouraging start, and also reflects that Hong Kong has the potential to develop technology and innovation industries. The government should reassess and consider how to provide private companies with greater incentives to promote Hong Kong’s technology and innovation industry culture. 60 Deng, I. (2018, December 17). Hong Kong start-UPS stymied by lack of innovation culture, survey finds. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/2178313/hong-kong-needs-cultural-change-if-its-catch-regional-tech-peers 61 Asia News Center. (2020, September 10). A culture of innovation fuels business resilience and economic recovery. https://news.microsoft.com/apac/2020/09/10/a-culture-of-innovation-fuels-business-resilience-and-economic-recovery/ 62 Building Hong Kong as a global innovation hub – China business knowledge. (2020, September 2). China Business Knowledge. https://cbk. bschool.cuhk.edu.hk/building-hong-kong-as-a-global-innovation-hub/ 3 Challenges for the Development of Hong Kong’s Technology and Innovation Industries
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