ASTRI Supports Financial Secretary’s Budget And Welcomes Substantial And Vigorous Commitment To I&T Development | ASTRI - Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Company Limited

[Hong Kong, 23 February 2022] The Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) welcomes the various initiatives proposed by the Financial Secretary in his Budget speech to promote innovation and technology (I&T) development. ASTRI will continue to render its full support to the government in developing the Greater Bay Area (GBA) into an international innovation and technology hub.”

Ir. Sunny Lee Wai-kwong, JP, Chairman of ASTRI, said, “The government continues to invest heavily in I&T, including setting up a HK$5 billion “Strategic Tech Fund”, increasing funding for Hong Kong Branches of Chinese National Engineering Research Centres and State Key Laboratories, and facilitating technology adoption. These initiatives will vigorously promote the development of I&T. We are most encouraged by this and will continue to contribute to Hong Kong and the country through our excellent R&D work.”

Dr Denis Yip, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, said, “ASTRI’s National Engineering Research Centre for Application Specific Integrated Circuit System (Hong Kong Branch) is committed to R&D in integrated circuits and third-generation semiconductor technologies, which we connect with ecosystem players in the GBA to jointly advance energy-saving technologies, among others. I am delighted that the government will provide more funding for the Center. This will help us achieve our GBA strategic development plan more rapidly.”

Dr Yip announced earlier a number of plans to expand ASTRI’s development in the GBA, including developing more R&D projects in the GBA, cooperating with local universities and research institutes in the GBA, attracting and cultivating talent, and developing more R&D resources. In the first stage, priority will be given to R&D projects in integrated circuits and communications technology, and subsequently to projects in IoT and Sensors, FinTech, and artificial intelligence and big data.