CEO Jason Chiu says Cherrypicks' overseas investors have confidence in Hong Kong original technology and its people's drive to succeed

As two examples of international recognition for Hong Kong companies, Cherrypicks Limited won the Asia-Pacific Mobile Application Technology Award in both 2001 and 2002, while Info Talk Corporation won the Most Innovative Product/Service in the Singapore National Infocomm Awards 2001/02.

Cherrypicks the cream of the crop

Cherrypicks is a Hong Kong start-up founded in 1999, which now delivers world-class application software based on open standards to six places in the region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and the Philippines). CEO Jason Chiu said the company is one of the SAR's many showcases for developing new technologies that are Hong Kong original, and well accepted across the Asia-Pacific. "We help revolutionise the way marketing is done without wire," he said.

The Cherrypicks roll-out demonstrates "how we turn a good idea into a reality", Mr Chiu said.

"In 2000, we were the first to launch mobile school vacancy information services for the Education Department with all six operators. This allowed a mass population of 140,000 Form Five students timely, mobile access to school seat vacancy information.

"We were the first to launch mobile marketing services in Hong Kong with Orange Club m-coupons - which are personalised discounts redeemable at over 150 merchants - in partnership with Hutchison Telecom in early 2001. Visa International joined the m-coupon service for its own mobile marketing trial in the same year."

This year, in partnership with Guangdong Mobile and Ericcson, the company launched location-sensitive mobile marketing services in the Chinese mainland.

Mr Chui said Hong Kong is ideally positioned to nurture new applications technologies.

"Hong Kong is one of the freest economies in the world, and a haven for entrepreneurs like myself," Mr Chiu said. "Hong Kong has a good operating environment with a low tax rate, and it has a tremendous advantage as the gateway to China. We were able to roll out our services to Guangdong in such a short time because we are right next door.

"Hong Kong people have the drive and determination to be world class, and the facts speak for themselves. Cherrypicks' investors include a number of foreign conglomerates such as the SK Group from Korea, the Far Eastern Group from Taiwan and AT&T Wireless from the US.  I think they have every confidence to bet not only on Cherrypicks, but also on Hong Kong-original technology and the people's drive to succeed."

InfoTalk speaks your language

	InfoTalk CEO Alex Leung says companies can leverage their success in Hong Kong as a springboard to global markets.

"InfoTalk's speech products and services break the limitations of traditional speech recognition systems by providing the speech understanding technologies, creating new possibilities in applications. This suffices simple speech interactions, such as getting telephone numbers from a user."

Dr Leung said Hong Kong's good telecom network and infrastructure lay the foundation for technology development.

"Being a foothold of many multinational companies, Hong Kong also provides an excellent geographic market platform for future business expansion into other markets. The multilingual and multicultural characteristics of Hong Kong provide a thrilling environment for technology companies to develop technologies that target for regional and eventually global reach."

He added: "Hong Kong is an international city and the springboard for local and international firms to enter the enormous China market. The pace of the city is moving so fast that companies will succeed in other parts of the world if they are successful in running a business in Hong Kong."

Effective government policy and support also plays an important role in bringing success to telecom and IT companies in Hong Kong looking to global expansion.

"The government's policy to deregulate the telecom market in Hong Kong has increased the competitiveness of new telecom entrants by providing a more open market environment for them to expand their business," Dr Leung said. "This sets a platform for telecom companies to expand business globally.

"Government-related organisations like the Trade Development Council have also been vital in facilitating the regional and global business development of Hong Kong telecom and IT companies. The active role of these organisations in bridging local companies and foreign trade organisations helps local telecom and IT companies initiate business connection with overseas counterparts, fostering future business co-operation."

Related Links:
Cherrypicks www.cherrypicks.com
S K Group www.sk.com/home.asp
Far Eastern Group www.feg.hinet.net/english/index.htm
AT&T Wireless www.attws.com
InfoTalk www.infotalkcorp.com