Sybase Opens HK Solutions Center

Sybase Inc. today teamed up with a Hong Kong industry group in unveiling a pair of development centers for solutions the U.S. database company will create with local software providers.

Sybase President John Chen and officials of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) hailed the centers as a way to cultivate a strong software industry in the territory.

Chen, a Hong Kong native, said Hong Kong's location, infrastructure, business expertise, and multilingual work force could make it the center of Asian software development.

"We truly do believe Hong Kong could be a major player, if not the key player, in the industry going forward," Chen said.

The centers, one high up in Central Plaza, Hong Kong's tallest building, and another at the HKPC building in Kowloon, will let Sybase engineers work with its strategic IT industry partners --such as Sun Microsystems Inc. -- in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Sybase plans to work on solutions for the finance, telecommunications and insurance industries, as well as the public sector.

Mobile data communications and e-commerce will also be areas of focus, Chen said.

"Through this effort, we want to exchange information, learn from each other, and drive forward what's needed for Hong Kong to be a digital player," Chen said.

The centerpiece of the Kowloon center will be a quality assurance laboratory intended to promote international standards of quality in Hong Kong-produced software products.

Sybase has three other solutions centers from which it works with partners, located in Frankfurt, London, and New York.

The Hong Kong Productivity Council was formed in 1967 to help Hong Kong businesses improve their productivity through professional services.

Sybase, in Emeryville, California, and can be contacted at +1-510-922-3555, or at http://www.sybase.com. The Hong Kong Productivity Council, in Hong Kong, can be contacted at +852-2788-5678.