Speaking at the topping-out ceremony of Le Meridien in Cyberport, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Henry Tang said that to enhance the competitiveness of the software industry in international and the Chinese mainland markets, Innovation and Technology Fund has endorsed in principle a 640,000-US dollar program for supporting the software companies.

Each software company could receive a maximum grant of 38,000 dollars for obtaining the certification of CMM, an international quality standard for software development, he said.

He said software development is also a crucial element of Hong Kong creative industries. Through the implementation of this program, the government hopes to build up a group of Hong Kong software companies with world recognized quality certifications, to boost Hong Kong's image as a leading digital city in the region.

The official said Hong Kong will set up a support center in the Cyberport for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in the development of contents, applications and services for wireless and mobile communications, leveraging on existing and future networks, such as 3G.

Hong Kong is also to set up a digital media center to provide hardware, software and technical support for industry, particularly SMEs, to spearhead the development of the digital media industry, including electronic games, animation for entertainment and advertising.

Mentioning the development of the Cyberport, Tang said 2003 expected to witness the completion of phase two and phase three building of the Cyberport, including an office building, a cybercenter and a hotel.

He said the whole Cyberport project will be completed in mid-2004 when the last office building is completed.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2003)