Many people love a humanoid robot which they can cuddle like a pet. The first batch of Japanese-built models that can talk and show emotions were sold out on the first day they went on sale.

In Hong Kong, though, scientists specializing in robotics at various universities and some people in the private sector are just as emotionally attached to robots - not as pets or companions though, but as an essential element in the resurgence of manufacturing.

The government has been talking about economic development for decades. It has also invested some serious money in building a high-tech industrial hub in Hong Kong. So far, it has proved to be an elusive dream.

Rather than striving for technological excellence, which has never been Hong Kong's strength, the more practical approach is to employ technology, or more specifically, robots, to make things consumers in overseas markets want.

The use of robots in manufacturing can address major constraints on industrial development in Hong Kong - including high labor costs and scarcity of land.

Some major multinational companies have demonstrated the cost effectiveness of robots in manufacturing in their factories in high-cost cities in North America and Europe. Philips' factory in the Netherlands manned by robots, for instance, can more than match the cost effectiveness of its factory on the mainland.

This was made possible by advances in robotics, enabling robots on the production lines to undertake a wider range of delicate tasks that, in the past, could only be performed by humans.

Robots are certainly expensive to buy. But they are a one-off capital expenditure which can be written off against tax.

That is not much of an issue in Hong Kong where financing of sound projects is never a problem. The crux of the matter is what the robots are used to make. This is where Hong Kong's business people can excel, because their ability to gauge market demand has been continuously sharpened in the ever-changing business environment of an externally oriented economy.

The made-in-Hong Kong label was established in the 1970s and 1980s. This was when the city was a major exporter of domestically produced garments and a range of electronic goods. It is time to dust off that label with a new industrial revolution powered by robots.

(HK Edition 07/22/2015 page7)