Research and Development in Hong Kong: The Way Forward
Table 1: Comparing R&D expenditures in different economies
Population (mil) |
GDP (bil US$) |
Total GERD (mil US$) |
GERD/GDP | GDP per capita (in US$) |
GERD per capita (in US$) |
|
Developed economies | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USA | 307.01 | 13,938.93 | 388,896 | 2.79% | 45,402 | 1,267 |
Japan | 127.56 | 5,032.98 | 169,108 | 3.36% | 39,456 | 1,326 |
Tech-oriented economies | ||||||
Switzerland* | 7.65 | 502.45 | 15,027 | 2.99% | 65,680 | 1,964 |
Israel | 7.49 | 195.39 | 8,706 | 4.46% | 26,087 | 1,162 |
Finland | 5.34 | 237.82 | 9,315 | 3.92% | 44,536 | 1,744 |
Four little dragons | ||||||
Taiwan | 23.12 | 377.81 | 11,108 | 2.94% | 16,341 | 480 |
Korea | 48.75 | 834.06 | 29,693 | 3.56% | 17,109 | 609 |
Singapore | 4.99 | 183.02 | 4,155 | 2.27% | 36,677 | 833 |
Hong Kong | 7.00 | 209.56 | 1,656 | 0.79% | 29,937 | 237 |
Developing economies | ||||||
Mainland China |
1,331.38 | 4,984.43 | 84,933 | 1.70% | 3,744 | 64 |
India | 1,155.35 | 1,265.15 | 10,121 | 0.80% | 1,095 | 9 |
*All data reported here are for the year of 2009, except the data for Switzerland, which are for the year of 2008. Sources: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012, and OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators dataset
Table 2: Comparing government support in non-defense research between Hong Kong & USA (for 2010/2011)
Economy | Funding Agency | Annual Budget (billions of US$) |
Annual Budget (billions of HK$ |
Population (million) |
Expenditure per capita (HK$) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hong Kong | RGC | 0.78 | 7.10 | 109.15 | |
USA | All Federal agencies (non-defense) | 63.950 | 497.79 | 312 | 1595.47 |
NIH | 33.249 | 258.81 | 312 | 829.52 | |
NSF | 5.233 | 40.73 | 312 | 130.56 |
Table 3: The level of decision making on science and technology policy in different governments
Economies | Top S&T Office | Level of authority |
---|---|---|
USA | Science Advisor (Director of Office of Science and Technology Policy) | Directly advising the US President |
US Academy of Science | Advising the US Congress | |
National Science and Technology Council | Advising the US President | |
Department of Energy | Part of the US Cabinet | |
Taiwan | National Science Council(行政院国家科学委员会) | Advising the “Executive Yuan” (行政院) |
Academia Sinica(中央研究院) | Advising the “President” | |
Mainland China | Ministry of Science and Technology (中国科学技术部) | Member of the PRC Cabinet |
Chinese Academy of Science / Chinese Academy of Engineering | Directly reporting to the Premier of PRC (国务院总理) |
|
Hong Kong | Innovation and Technology Commission | Under the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, which is under the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Government |