The science park's Chief Executive Officer, CD Tam, does not view Hong Kong's late entry as a barrier to attracting tenants to the 22-hectare complex. In fact, he considers it an advantage.

"We are the latest one to be built, so that means we are also the most modern and have all the latest, state-of-the-art infrastructure and support facilities," he told members during the Chamber's visit to the park on April 15. "Even our buildings are very technologically advanced and can reduce energy costs."

But he is also a realist, and recognises that HKSTP cannot be all things to all people. Therefore, the park's four areas of development focus on information technology & telecommunications, electronics, precision engineering and biotechnology. Besides focusing on these four clusters, Mr Tam says Hong Kong needs to be focused on the execution of technologies regionally.

Southern China exports around 33 percent of China's total electronics exports, which account for about 10 percent of the world's total, he says.

"The Pearl River Delta is very strong in manufacturing, while Hong Kong is strong in knowledge-based research and development. Just a two-hour drive away we have one of the world's largest producers of electronics so there is a lot of scope for Hong Kong and the PRD to work more closely together," he says.

The three-phase project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2009, is nearing the final stages of Phase I, while Phase II is scheduled for completion in 2006/07.

According to Mr Tam, the occupancy rate for Phase I of the park has already reached 70 percent, and once contracts for new tenants under discussion to move in are finalised, the occupancy rate will be around 94 percent.

He says much of the park's attraction is the relatively low set up costs involved for tenants. Instead of having to invest in very expensive hardware and software needed for research, tenants can simply pay for using the equipment.

"This infrastructure that we provide to tenants costs millions of dollars to invest in and it gives tenants access to software through a multi-user licensing arrangement which saves individual companies from having to pay for individual licenses," Mr Tam says. "Our aim is to lower the cost and dramatically reduce the set-up time for tenants at HKSTP."

To illustrate his point, Mr Tam said the park supports the IC design industry by providing the infrastructure and support facilities with a dedicated building for IC design, called the Innovation Center.

"With our Innovation Center, a company can use all our equipment and pay only for the time they use. In this way, a small company inside our Innovation Center has the benefits of being able to work in much the same environment as inside a large semiconductor company such as Motorola," he says.