(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-14 19:11

Hong Kong -- The Fifth Pearl River Delta Software Industry Forum, a major event for the software industry in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in the south of China, began in Hong Kong on Monday.

The Deputy Government Chief Information Officer (Operation) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Stephen Mak, the Deputy Director of Information Industry of Guangdong Province Peng Ping, the General Manager of Hong Kong Productivity Council KT Yung, and the secretary-general of Guangdong Software Industry Andy Wong, officiated at the forum's opening ceremony.

"Hong Kong and Guangdong have different strengths in the development of software industry. This provides ample room for complementing one another and for co-operation. Since the governments of the two places held their first PRD Forum, both places have established strong foundation for software industry co-operation through various channels," Mak said.

"I hope the experts of the software industry of the two places, through this PRD Forum, will strengthen their exchanges of ideas, pro-actively identify specific co-operation projects and promote the interactive development of the two places," he added.

Established in 2004, the PRD Forum aims to promote the exchange of information industry of Hong Kong and the PRD, integrating the resources of the two places, providing a platform for resources sharing for the industry, and strengthening the co-operation between enterprises of the two places in various information technology areas.

During the two-day forum, experts of the two places will introduce the latest development and cooperation opportunities. They will also exchange views on various areas, including professional certification, software outsourcing, embedded software, open source software, wireless technology and digital entertainment.

To promote the co-operation in software industry between Hong Kong and the PRD region, the then Commerce and Information Technology Bureau of the HKSAR and the Department of Information Industry of Guangdong Province agreed in 2003 that the PRD Forum should be held regularly. It has become an important platform for cooperation between the two places to promote professional training, technology exchanges and resources sharing.