Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on Saturday that a taskforce would be established to ensure that the development of a supercomputing hub at Sandy Ridge stayed on track.

The move will come days after Hong Kong Range Intelligent Computing Technology won the tender with a HK$581 million bid.

Under the terms of the tender award, it has to complete its investments of more than HK$23 billion over the first three years and begin operations within 42 months.

The firm will lose its guarantee money of HK$400 million, or two percent of the targeted investments, if it fails to meet specified targets.

Speaking on a television programme, Sun noted that the sole bidder faces a significant challenge.

He said the land development cost was extremely high at over HK$1 billion and that the land premium only made up a small proportion of it.

"The government will set up a dedicated task force internally to follow up on the project," Sun said.

"It is not for monitoring but to mainly provide comprehensive support for the company so that it can fulfil its commitment as scheduled and in accordance with the regulations."

Zhou Chaonan, founder of the parent company of Hong Kong Range Intelligent Computing Technology, told RTHK on the sidelines of the "Two Sessions" meetings in Beijing that she felt honoured that the company had won the tender award.

She is confident that the company will meet the targets, given that the group has experience of more than a decade in the field.

"We will work hard at building the data centres," Zhou said.

"This is a duty we ought to be able to fulfil."

The firm will work with universities and talents in the research, academic and industry sectors in the SAR, Zhou said, adding that the city holds high promise in artificial intelligence advances.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden