Opening remarks by S for IT at press briefing of NISI (HK) Limited (with photo)

     Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the press briefing of NISI (HK) Limited today (August 7):
 
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good afternoon. I'm very honoured to attend NISI's press conference today.
 
     What NISI has achieved is a major transformation of the minimally invasive surgery platform, and it has brought tremendous benefit to thousands, if not millions, of patients in the world. NISI has done a tremendous amount of R&D in Hong Kong and some of it was funded by the ITF (Innovation and Technology Fund), over $40 million worth. But we understand it's a lot more than that. They collaborated with local universities, such as the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In addition, they have collaborated with the University of Cambridge in England to bring artificial intelligence into the so-called medical robotic platform.
 
      The HKSAR Government is highly committed to promoting innovation and technologies. We will build two platforms, one in healthcare technology, the other in artificial intelligence and robotics. These two platforms will be built in our Hong Kong Science Park. Our goal is to attract the best of the best universities and also scientific research institutions to come to Hong Kong, and to form medical and artificial intelligence clusters which would synergise and also work with our local talents to make Hong Kong the international hub for innovation and technology in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area. I believe with our strength in research talents, our academics and also our internationalisation experience, Hong Kong will become a major player in the fields of innovation and technology, and particularly in the minimally invasive robotic surgery.
 
     Thank you very much.