JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 November, 2015, 3:10am
UPDATED : Sunday, 08 November, 2015, 3:10am
Nicholas Yang has been tipped to become the new bureau chief. Photo: David Wong
The widely tipped minister for the new HK$61.5 million Innovation and Technology Bureau says he wants to focus on "practical matters" rather than politics.
Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung declined to confirm yesterday whether he would take the helm at the bureau, slated to be launched on November 20.
Funding was approved in the Legislative Council on Friday after delays in the past few years as a result of filibustering by radical pan-democratic lawmakers.
"I don't usually talk about politics," Yang told reporters seeking comments on the way Chan Kin-por, chairman of Legco's Finance Committee, controversially stopped the latest filibuster attempt. "I want to focus on practical matters."
He asked the media to await the government's announcement of the appointment, which must first be endorsed by Beijing.
It has been three years since Yang, a former Cyberport chief executive and holder of two Stanford University master's degrees, was tipped to be IT bureau secretary. In March, the Polytechnic University vice-president quit to join Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration as his innovation and technology adviser and executive councillor.
Elizabeth Quat, who chaired Legco's panel on information technology and broadcasting, said she would invite the bureau chief to make a presentation.
Jolly Wong Chun-kau, a retiring chief telecommunications engineer with the police, is likely to be deputy minister.
Quat said Wong had solid experience in the industry and in the government.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1876634/man-tipped-head-hong-kongs-new-technology-bureau-prefers