Hong Kong has made some progress in the biotechnology sector. There is estimated to be around 50 biotech start-ups. A government funded science park is currently under construction. Biotech companies including SIIC Medical Science & Technology Group and more recently Kinetana International Biotech Pharma Ltd., have been listed in the Growth Enterprise Market, the second board of the local stock exchange. The Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), was formed under the Innovation & Technology Commission (ITC), with the mission to facilitate the transformation of ground-breaking ideas into viable companies, and the transfer of new products or processes into local industry, including biotechnology. Along the way, it will act as a spawning ground for Hong Kong's technology entrepreneurs. For a start, ASTRI will have one large biotech project under its wing, the Institute of Chinese Medicine (ICM), along with USD64 million in government funding. Their primary aim is to achieve the standardization and other R&D necessary to commercialize traditional Chinese medicine.

But why is Hong Kong still not able to nurture a healthy local biotech industry, as Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and India have? Hong Kong is among the late comers, regionally, to venture into biotechnology. Over the past seven years, only about USD100 million has been invested in biotech-related projects by the government. However, this is not the only reason behind the lack of movement within the industry.

Even with Hong Kong's access to the region's emerging markets like China, strong investment base, entrepreneurial spirit and skilled workforce, the industry is plagued by several fundamental barriers to growth of their local biotech industry. There is a lack of research-oriented institutions including universities and private research centers which actually conduct world class biotechnology research, the short-term investment mentality and lack of long term government investments and planning. It is time for the government to decide which direction the country wants to take with regards to biotechnology. Hong Kong may not become the biotech hub of the region, as Singapore and Taiwan, who have already made tremendous strides in the race to become the biotech leader in this region. But this does not mean that there are no opportunities for Hong Kong to take advantage of the biotech boom.

Some suggest that Hong Kong could play a supporting role especially to the emerging market in China. With China's accession into the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong's opportunity to play middleman in other industries has been significantly reduced. However, in the biotechnology sector, the need for supportive services would still be in high demand. The regulatory and financial infrastructure, in other words, the 'non-research' framework, is something that Hong Kong has to offer to China. Hong Kong's solid banking, legal, intellectual property and accounting framework, is just the support that China needs to develop its biotech industry. Some parties foresee Hong Kong's future as a financier to the region's biotech industry. Hong Kong's property conglomerates have already been seeking out promising biotech start-ups. They would follow the lead of Hong Kong's New World Development real estate group, along with six other investors, that has put up almost USD2 million for a stake in ChipScreen BioScience, a drug-screening joint venture with Beijing-based Tsing Hua University. The patented ChipScreen technology will be employed to promote market acceptance and use of Traditional Chinese Medicine throughout Asia and the rest of the world.

Hong Kong may not become the coveted 'biotech hub' of Asia, as Singapore is clamoring to be, and their potential to develop a local biotechnology industry may have limitations. Nevertheless, they can play a substantial role in developing the biotech industry in China and rest of the region. The opportunities are abundant and its timely for Hong Kong to seize it now.

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