South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, which are also part of the "Asian Tigers", are all in transition, but Hong Kong has not moved. The discussion on industrial upgrading has not been interrupted in the business and education circles, but there is no such influential company or group as NB Electric and NB Lab to take the lead.

With the broadcast of Hong Kong Satellite TV's talk program, issues such as "the third industrial upgrading", "deindustrialization" and "talent hollowing" have suddenly become the focus of heated discussions in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of large and small media reported on this, invited experts and scholars to comment, interviewed manufacturing practitioners, and even rushed to South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan for field trips to summarize the lessons of the other "three dragons" in industrial upgrading.

The Consul of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong and the Economic Counsellor of the Consulate General of Singapore in Hong Kong were interviewed by several major media to express their views on this issue.

The Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany owes NB Electric a great favor for the reconstruction of Kuwait, and now is undoubtedly the best time to repay the favor. The German Consul in Hong Kong took the Berlin NB Laboratory as an example to introduce Germany's advanced experience in the "integration of production, education and research".

In an interview with Asia Satellite TV, Mr. Consul actually claimed that the general environment in Hong Kong was not suitable for the development of NB Laboratory, and suggested that NB Electric should merge all three research institutes of basic research, system engineering and technology application into NB Laboratory in Berlin. He also vaguely said that the Federal Ministry of Scientific Research and the governments of Berlin and Saxony will definitely increase R&D investment on the basis of the previous ones.

As a manufacturing powerhouse second only to the United States and Japan, no one thinks he is joking.

First, Germany has this strength, and second, Germany has already provided a huge amount of funding to the NB laboratory in Berlin. What's more, the NB laboratory in Berlin has paid off. By modifying the vortex firefighting equipment. helped Germany win billions of dollars in Kuwait's reconstruction orders; Through cooperation with the newly established NB Bank. Nearly 100 small businesses were supported in East Germany.

Including the export of skilled labor to the Gulf region, thousands of jobs have been created for East Germans.

By contrast, it would not be a loss for the Federal Trusteeship, which is undergoing a full-scale privatization, to provide a scenic research environment, with a further tens of millions of marks from the Federal Ministry of Scientific Research and several state governments.

Because judging from the new discoveries and breakthrough research results, NB Labs is worth this price. As long as the board of directors of NB Electric Group agrees, even NB laboratories can be included in the Max Planck system.

The tree planted five years ago finally bears fruit. How can they be poached by the Germans who spent a little money but made a lot of money?

More than 800 Hong Kong and Chinese professors from HKU, CUHK, PolyU, HKBU, the Open University and the newly established HKUST have signed a letter asking the Hong Kong government to seriously consider the demands of NB Labs.

If you want money, you should ask for money, but you will be involved in "industrial upgrading".

The timing is too delicate, and in a few months the Legislative Council will hold the first direct district elections in Hong Kong's history. If future elected legislators want to win votes, no one can get around this issue, which has a bearing on the future of Hong Kong and the future of Hong Kong people.

If you want to be elected, you must make a promise, and if you make a promise, you must fulfill it, otherwise you will lose the meaning of direct election.

If they really work for a few years and achieve nothing, they will all step down and be replaced by pro-mainland leftists. The Hong Kong government's efforts to do so will undoubtedly be in vain.

Even the robbers who robbed a few gold shops are still at large, and the people of Hong Kong are panicking. There is no sense of security at all; HKUST was exposed to a serious overrun of HK$1.6 billion in construction costs, and the Financial Secretary and the Education Department became the target of public criticism.

The Bank of Credit and International (Crédérica), which was registered in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands and was taken over by the Bank of England on suspicion of handling stolen money for drug cartels, was found to have a wide range of issues such as money laundering, channeling funds for terrorists, failing to collect loans due to ineffective vetting by the lending department, luring depositors with high-interest deposits and borrowing from other banks in order to compensate for bad debts...... Waiting for a mess to go out of business will have a direct impact on Hong Kong's financial stability.

Hong Kong-based Bank and Dao Heng Bank, which provide interbank loans, were run on, and members of the public who had accounts with the Hong Kong International Commercial Credit Bank could not get their deposits back, and they were sitting on the road of Cheung Kong Group Center on Queen's Road in Central District.

One by one, they all came together, making the Hong Kong government anxious.

Real estate developers don't want the yeast of NB Electric to continue to ferment, and many banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, have issued too many loans on real estate, let alone let the situation worsen. After all, according to the political structure set by the Hong Kong government, those members of the Legislative Council who are about to be elected by ballot can really do what they do not want to see in accordance with the will of the people.

As a result, the Governor formed a committee comprising representatives from the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary, the Education Department, the Housing Department, the UGC, the legal, financial and real estate sectors to formally negotiate with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NB Electric, Mr Lau Sze-wai, the Chief Executive Officer of NB Electric, Mr Ng Kam-wah, and the largest shareholder and chief engineer of NB Electric, representing NB Laboratories.

In order to calm the turmoil as soon as possible, the committee held the meeting room of the Federation of Trade and Industry on the fourth floor of the Hankow Centre, 5-15 Hankow Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The attitude is very clear, once the two sides reach a consensus on increasing investment in basic research and technology applications, it means that the Federation of Hong Kong manufacturing industries can no longer fan the flames, let alone put forward a series of unrealistic demands such as reducing the rent of factory buildings and reclaiming more industrial land.

"From a personal point of view, I greatly appreciate the industrial restructuring proposed by your group."

In fact, there is no way to put up a stand in front of Liu Siwei, chairman of the board of directors of NB Electric, who is courteous to the German chancellor, the vice president of the German ruling party, the emir of Kuwait, the prime minister of Kuwait, and the Prince of Saudi Arabia. What's more, he is very familiar with Wu Jinhua, CEO of NB Electric, and he must maintain a certain respect for the young scientist who has achieved academic achievements.

She looked at the three of them with a sincere face and said with a heartfelt heart: "As Mr. Wu said in the talk show, maintaining a certain scale of industry can indeed provide a lot of jobs. It can stabilize Hong Kong's economy to a certain extent. It's a pity that we've missed the perfect time to transform. If we really want to carry out the industrial restructuring of Singapore at the government level. It is likely to have a series of catastrophic consequences. ”

Liu Siwei seemed to be smiling, Wu Jinhua was unmoved, and the charter was silent.

The Financial Secretary couldn't sit still, and stressed with great seriousness: "The three are the most prominent people in Hong Kong, and it should be clear that prices directly affect property prices, and property prices will directly affect the economy." ”

I have to admit that they do have a point.

Hong Kong's current economic development model is like a rumbling train. Can't stop at all. Almost every family is tied to the property market, so many bank mortgages, as little as more than ten years, more than a few decades, and those who speculate in real estate, really want to rashly implement the adjustment of industrial institutions like Singapore, which will bring a series of economic and social problems.

After all, it is impossible to distinguish between industrial land and commercial land, just like a factory building, it can be used as a factory, and it can also be inhabited.

Drink poison to quench thirst. This is not the case in later generations of China, perhaps it was learned from Hong Kong.

This matter cannot be delayed any longer. Thinking that he would go to the Soviet Union in two days, Liu Siwei said: "Ladies and gentlemen, as a Hong Kong person and a Hong Kong company headquartered in Hong Kong, our position is the same on the issue of maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. No one wants a recession, no one wants to see someone jump off a building.

Therefore, we are very cautious in our approach to industrialisation, and we have never thought of increasing industrial land or large-scale reclamation like Singapore. We just want to use our technology and experience to help manufacturing companies like us more and make them more competitive internationally. ”

All NB electrical executives, including Wu Jinhua, have indeed never said anything about land.

But this "Pandora's box" was opened by them, and it was not they who fanned the flames and guided public opinion, and things would never have caused a storm in the city as they do now.

The Chief Secretary was ridiculed and simply said bluntly: "Mr. Liu, Mr. Wu and Mr. Zhang, there is no doubt about the influence of your group and your laboratory in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong government will consider the demands of the laboratory as much as possible, but how to calm this controversy requires your group to play its due role." ”

When the goal was achieved, Wu Jinhua didn't want to fight against the Hong Kong government anymore, and said with a smile: "Ms. Chen Fang, Mr. Ding, I think we need a set of plans, or a relatively reasonable manufacturing development plan." ”

"How about a joint formulation by the Financial Secretary, the Education Department, the Housing Department, the Productivity Council, the Vocational Training Council and the Federation of Industries, led by the Commerce and Industry Branch?" The chief secretary smiled, although the were old, the two dimples were still so charming.

Liu Siwei nodded, and smiled tacitly: "It couldn't be better." ”

"Okay, let's officially start," the Chief Secretary said as he flipped through the documents, "the land in Clear Water Bay can be allocated by the Hong Kong government." However, due to the overrun of the construction cost of HKUST and the unfavorable public opinion of the Hong Kong government, the Financial Secretary can only provide 100 million yuan in funding for the construction cost of the laboratory. ”

The construction cost of HKUST is billions, and the NB laboratory, which is slightly smaller than HKUST, is not even a fraction of what people do, Liu Siwei of course couldn't agree, and asked with a smile: "Ms. Chen Fang, do you think 100 million Hong Kong dollars can build a laboratory?" ”

"Mr. Liu, although your lab is for public welfare, it is not a university."

"100 million Hong Kong dollars is not enough to buy experimental equipment, let alone build infrastructure."

"If your group can invest 100 million US dollars to set up an NB venture fund, why can't you invest more in basic research and technology application? In addition, according to the application submitted by you, you can be rewarded for receiving 'commissioned R&D orders' and technical services in the future. Moreover, your group has the right of first refusal to transfer the results developed. ”

The charter can understand Cantonese, but he can't speak, and seeing that the chief secretary looks at himself, he can only reply in English: "It takes years or even decades for basic research results to be transformed into economic benefits, just like silicon diodes, which took decades from discovery to application in integrated circuits." As for the potential benefits of the application of technology, it may not even be enough to keep the laboratory running. ”

Engaging in research is burning money, and everyone here knows it in their hearts.

The Chief Secretary and the Financial Secretary looked at each other and said, as if they had made up their minds, "200 million, no more, you must know that this is not only a research institute jointly established by the government and enterprises, but also proposed by you." So you need to bear a lot more expenses. ”

The representative of the Education Department said: "In addition to that, you can also collect donations. By setting up the Hong Kong Science Prize, you have raised $134 million. More money than the 'Forget Me Extravaganza' raised for the floods in the Mainland. You can give full play to the influence of your laboratory and raise another two or three hundred million. ”

It's like squeezing toothpaste, I really don't know if they are responsible for taxpayers or the Hong Kong government.

The charter was not interested and did not have time to bargain with them, so he got up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, before continuing this topic, please allow me to briefly introduce what kind of institution the NB laboratory is. In just a few years from its establishment to today, NB Lab has made one breakthrough achievement after another in academics. It has trained nearly 100 young scientists who are among the best in the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that it has given Hong Kong, a world-famous international metropolis and a large financial center, a scientific business card and a place in the international scientific community, which cannot be bought by spending any money. South Korea, for example, has not been able to make a single Nobel Prize-level discovery in the field of carbon nanotubes, despite investing heavily in basic research. ”

Referring to the results of the NB Lab, the representative of the education sector from HKU could not help but say with emotion: "Mr. Zhang's words are not exaggerated at all, and it is worth mentioning that the 'giant magnetoresistance effect' jointly discovered by Mr. Zhang, Professor Kwok and Professor Shen a few years ago is also very remarkable!" Their findings not only pave the way for the production of commercialized large-capacity information memories, but also pave the way for further exploration of new physics, such as tunneling magnetoresistive effects, spintronics, and new sensor technologies. ”

"But we're stuck in the adoption of technology."

The charter sighed lightly. While looking around at the crowd, he said solemnly, "If there was a laboratory with very good conditions, equipment and environment at that time. If there had been sufficient research funding at the time, the discovery would have brought hundreds or even hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefits to Hong Kong. ”

The representative of the Education Department asked curiously: "Could it be that other countries have made breakthroughs in the application of the 'giant magnetoresistive effect'?" ”

"Yes," the charter confirmed, emphatically, "IBM just sent us an airmail saying that they have used our findings and our two patents to develop a 'giant magnetoresistive' data reading probe that has increased disk record density by a factor of 17 and is in the final stages of commercial production." ”

It's a pity that the discovery in Hong Kong has been applied by American companies.

Looking at everyone's regretful looks, the charter continued: "As for whether the NB laboratory can bring economic benefits, and whether the Hong Kong government and the taxpayers of Hong Kong can get returns, the Berlin NB laboratory has given a good answer. The application of the practical invention of vortex fire-fighting equipment in Kuwait alone has returned $86.7 million in tax revenue to the German federal government, which is more than the combined investment of the Federal Ministry of Scientific Research and the Berlin state government in the Berlin NB laboratory in recent years. ”

"But Professor Guo, Professor Shen, Dr. Cai and Dr. Chen have all found other jobs."

"They have been invited to teach at foreign universities, but this should not be a reason to give up basic research and technology applications, otherwise Hong Kong will not be able to retain the best talent, as the media said. What's more, we have a sufficient talent pool, and there are eight universities that are continuously cultivating follow-up talents. ”

No matter what the political stance is, no matter what differences there are on industrial upgrading, everyone here has a deep affection for Hong Kong, and no one wants Hong Kong to be "hollowed out of talent".

The female chief secretary weighed it and proposed, "Mr. Zhang, maybe we can change the way that is acceptable to all parties. In addition to the previous investment of 200 million yuan and your group, the Hong Kong government will provide another 500 million matching grants, which is 2:1 like HKU, and for every 10,000 social donations raised, the Hong Kong government will increase the budget by 500 Hong Kong dollars. ”

The government and NB Electric each invested 200 million, and the rest was all donated to the society, if 500 million can be raised, then the Hong Kong government will provide an additional 250 million Hong Kong dollars.

It's not a bad proposal, but it's not bad either.

After all, Hong Kong is not Germany, and there is no precedent for such a thing before. And as she said, increasing the higher education budget by hundreds of millions at once requires an explanation of all aspects, especially in this eventful season.

The key is to send a piece of invincible seaview land close to the University of Science and Technology, if calculated according to the price of the land taken by the real estate developer, the land alone is worth more than one billion. Seeing that Liu Siwei and Wu Jinhua nodded slightly, the charter decided to accept it when it was good, and agreed: "Let's work hard, the construction cost and equipment investment should not be much of a problem, but after the laboratory is completed, the Hong Kong government will still need to fund part of the research and development funds." ”

"How about funding according to the standards of university research institutes?"

The university can charge some tuition, but the laboratory can only enter and exit, and the charter shook his head without thinking about it: "Ms. Chen Fang, we are conducting forward-looking and applied research, tracking the most cutting-edge technology, which is fundamentally different from university research institutes and university laboratories. If we go by the standards of university research institutes, then what we are talking about today is a duplicate investment. ”

The UGC representative nodded and agreed: "University research institutes and laboratories can only do general research, so we have been borrowing test instruments, equipment and even personnel from NB laboratories and Xiangjiang experimental workshops in the past few years. ”

The representative of the Education Department asked, "Apply by project?" ”

"This can only be applied to the application of technology, basic research has a lot of uncertainty, and an assumption or a small difference can change the direction of research at any time. As described in textbooks, science is a constant quest to follow a path that no one has ever taken before. ”

"How much does Mr. Zhang think is more reasonable?"

The charter calculated for a while, and looked up and said: "The government subsidizes 400 million yuan every year, NB Electric invests 400 million, and then raises a part of it from the society, counting the income obtained from accepting commissioned research and development orders, and strives to make up 10~1.5 billion." It sounds like a lot, and it sounds scary, but for basic research, it's really nothing. ”

Including HKUST, which has just started recruiting students, the Hong Kong government has budgeted a total of HK$3.8 billion on higher education this year. If you follow his requirements, then the NB lab is no different from the university.

But people also invested 400 million, and the Hong Kong government can't be less than a company.

Considering that it is difficult to give an account of the 400 million yuan allocated every year, Secretary Chen Fang, together with the representatives of the Financial Secretary, the Education Department and the UGC, went to the next door to study for more than half an hour before proposing a compromise plan: the Hong Kong government allocates 400 million yuan a year, but the NB laboratory must train 100 master's students and 60 doctoral students for Hong Kong every year while engaging in basic research and technology application.

The elite education is more elite than HKUST and represents the highest level of engineering education in Hong Kong.

This is not a condition at all for NB Lab, because it has been doing this for several years, but there are not so many people, and it is not as public as this. (To be continued......)