Upon receipt of an application, the Secretariat will check its eligibility and conduct a preliminary screening. The Secretariat may also seek clarification or supplementary information from the applicant if necessary. Eligible applications will be considered by the TVP Committee (the Committee) while ineligible applications will be returned to the applicant by the Secretariat. The Committee is composed of members from the business sector, technology sector, professional services sector and relevant Government departments and its composition can be found here. Applications supported by the Committee will be submitted to the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology (CIT) for approval of funding.
Each eligible application will be assessed based on individual merits and considered on a case-by-case basis. The assessment criteria of TVP projects include –
- relevance of the proposed project to the applicant's business – the project should have good prospects of enhancing its competitiveness through improving productivity, cost reduction or efficiency enhancement, upgrading/improving/transforming business processes;
- reasonableness of the budget – assessment with reference to market prices of the technologies in question as known to the TVP Committee or the Secretariat will be made (except for quotations obtained via the designated open electronic procurement platform). Individual items of expenditure must also be essential and directly related to the implementation of the project;
- reasonableness of the implementation details – consideration may include whether concrete project deliverables and outcomes have been set. The implementation details should also be realistic taking into account factors such as the complexity of the technology and the project duration; and
- adverse record of consultants and/or service provider(s) as known to the TVP Committee and the Secretariat if available.
If a project is worthy of support in principle, the level of funding may be adjusted with reference to the costs of the project approved by the TVP Committee.
Applicants will be informed of the result in writing. The actual processing time will be subject to the amount of applications received at the time, complexity of individual applications, comprehensiveness and clarity of the information provided, etc. Successful applicants may be required to revise the application to fulfill the conditions for approval set by the TVP Committee and/or the Secretariat, if any. Similar to other ITF projects, basic information of the approved projects will be posted onto the ITC website.
Each eligible application will be assessed based on individual merits and considered on a case-by-case basis. Some common reasons for applications not supported by the TVP Committee include:
- cost of the off-the-shelf/readily available items constituting a substantial portion of the total project cost (according to the Guidance Notes for Applications of the TVP, purchase, rental or subscription of off-the-shelf/readily available equipment/hardware, software and technological services or solutions that forms an essential part of the project should constitute no more than 50% of the project cost); and
- application involving only little or no technological elements and hence not consistent with the objectives of the TVP.
No. Applicants should ensure that all procurement for goods and services (including technology consultancy and project auditing) are carried out in an open, fair and competitive manner and the appointment of reasonable qualified suppliers or service providers. In general, applicants should adhere to the following procurement procedures –
- for every procurement of equipment or other goods or services for the purposes of or in relation to the Project, the aggregate value of which does not exceed HK$50,000, the applicant itself (versus its agents or sub-contractor) shall obtain written price quotations from at least two suppliers or service providers.
- for every procurement of the equipment or other goods or services for the purposes of or in relation to the Project, the aggregate value of which exceeds HK$50,000 but does not exceed HK$300,000, the applicant itself (versus its agents or subcontractors) shall obtain written price quotations from at least three suppliers or service providers;
- for every procurement of the equipment or other goods or services for the purposes of or in relation to the Project, the aggregate value of which exceeds HK$300,000 but does not exceed HK$1,360,000, the applicant itself (versus its agents or sub-contractors) shall obtain written price quotations from at least five suppliers or service providers; and
- for every procurement of the equipment or other goods or services for the purposes of or in relation to the Project, the aggregate value of which is more than HK$1,360,000, the applicant shall follow an open procurement process. Channels which are easily accessible by the general public shall be used to publicise the tender notices.
For (a)-(c) above, full justifications must be given if the minimum number of quotations was not obtained from the market. If the lowest bid is not selected for (a)-(c), prior written consent must be obtained from the Secretariat and full justifications must be given.
Alternative to the arrangement set out above in (a) –(c), applicants may invite quotations via the designated open electronic platform provided by the Secretariat, except those seeking approval for obtaining quotation from one single service provider. If the lowest bid submitted through the platform is not selected, prior written consent must be obtained from the Secretariat and full justifications must be given. For details of the operation of the platform, please refer to the following website:
https://tvp-eproq.hkpc.org/Supplier/en/Support/view.aspx?charset=en
The applicant must provide full justifications of shortlisted or selected supplier(s) or service provider(s), including but not limited to company profile, year founded, number of staff, etc., upon the request of the Secretariat. The Secretariat reserves the right to eliminate any supplier(s) or service provider(s) and request the applicant to conduct the procurement exercise again should there be any doubts regarding their technical capability and/or track record in similar projects or if the Secretariat considers that the procurement for any goods or services are not carried out in an open, fair and competitive manner.
Applicant should also ensure that each bidder/tenderer has signed the Probity and Non-Collusive Quotation/Tendering Certificate as part of their tender or quotation submission to the applicant. Please click here for the model clauses in probity and non-collusive quotation/tendering certificate.
Though applicants can engage consultants, service providers and suppliers of its choice, to avoid conflict of interests, applicants must not engage a consultant/service provider/supplier, the owners, shareholders, management of which are the owners, shareholders, management of the applicant or their relatives. Applicants or any person/staff authorised by the applicants to handle or in any way involved in the quotation or tender exercise should have no actual or potential conflict of interest, and should not participate in the procurement process if otherwise.
Applicants are required to report cases of conflict of interest, including actions taken, to the Secretariat in writing.
The procurement of equipment/hardware/software/other assets or consultancy services is subject to the following rules:
- The title and interest in new equipment /hardware/software and other assets purchased with funds under the TVP shall vest with the applicant;
- Unless prior written approval from the Secretariat is obtained, the applicant is required to keep all equipment/hardware/software/other assets funded under the TVP for at least one year after project completion or termination of the project, and shall make such equipment/ hardware/software/other assets available for inspection by the Secretariat or representatives of the Government / Government’s authorised agencies upon request. The applicant shall not transfer, sell or dispose of the equipment/hardware/software/other assets within the period as specified above without prior approval;
- All items purchased, procured or leased with funds under the TVP should be licensed products and would not infringe any third party intellectual property rights; and
- The risk in using the equipment/hardware/software/other assets or consultancy services will be borne by and remain with the applicant.
Purchases, maintenance, warranty and insurance of existing and newly purchased equipment for normal business operation of the applicant will not be funded under TVP. Besides, TVP funding will not be provided for expenditures prior to project approval or incurred outside the project period.
The applicant shall purchase, procure or lease the equipment, other goods or services for the project through non-cash methods such as credit card, cheque, bank transfer. The applicant may procure equipment, other goods or services for the project in cash to meet immediate needs, provided that the total value of any single transaction of the equipment, goods or services or all of the above for the purposes of or in relation to the project shall not exceed HK$5,000 each and the transaction shall be reasonably necessary for the discharge of the obligations and duties owed by the applicant under the funding agreement, and the procurement price is reasonable. The applicant has to certify in writing all these requirements. Any single transaction by the applicant of a total value exceeding HK$5,000 shall not be made in cash without the prior written approval of the Secretariat.
To avoid potential conflict of interest, technology consultants/ service providers/ suppliers may not provide loans to entities for carrying out TVP projects.
For applications received before 1 December 2019, funding of no more than two-thirds of the actual cost of a project (up to the ceiling approved by the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology (CIT)) will be provided to an applicant on a reimbursement basis. In this connection, within 2 months after completion of the TVP project, the applicant should submit required documents electronically through the Technology Voucher Programme Funding Administrative System to the Secretariat for reimbursement of the approved funding.
For applications received on or after 1 December 2019, an initial payment of up to 25% of the approved funding amount will be disbursed in advance upon request by the applicant after signing of the funding agreement, subject to funding contribution of the same percentage by the applicant on a matching basis. The remaining funding will be disbursed upon the Secretariat’s acceptance of the applicant’s project completion report.
Contribution by the applicant in kind will not be accepted as project cost.
Within 2 months after completion of the TVP project, the applicant should submit the following electronically through the Technology Voucher Programme Funding Administrative System to the Secretariat for reimbursement of the approved funding:
- a final project report indicating completion of project, a summary of project expenditures and project deliverables;
- evidence of deliverables (e.g. consultancy report(s), delivery receipt(s), screen captures of software systems, photos of equipment/hardware, record(s) of training conducted such as photos and training material(s) etc.);
- original or copy of invoice(s) and corresponding receipt(s) in relation to the payment for each expenditure item. The name of the payer on the invoice(s) and receipts(s) must be the same as the name of the applicant;
- if the approved funding exceeds $50,000, an audited statement of income and expenditure for the project from an independent auditor is required to be submitted to the Secretariat; and
- if the approved funding is HK$50,000 or below, applicant are required to prepare and submit a final statement of income and expenditure and declare that the final statement of income and expenditure is accurate and all spending is made in compliance with the requirements as set out in the funding agreement. Applicants may refer to the format of the audited statement of income and expenditure at Annex of the Notes for Auditors (mentioned under the “Auditing Requirement” section of the Guidance Notes for Applications) when preparing the final statement of income and expenditure. The Secretariat reserves the right to conduct detailed checks on the final statement of income and expenditure.
Late submission of the required documents, or failure to provide satisfactory response to the Secretariat’s requests for clarifications on these documents by the specified deadline may lead to withholding, reduction or cessation of the funding support for the project. Applicants may contact the Secretariat for assistance if they encounter difficulties in submitting the final report and supporting documents through the TVP website.
The initial payment arrangement is applicable to TVP applications received by the Secretariat on or after 1 December 2019.
A successful applicant with an approved project who wishes to receive an initial payment of the approved funding is required to maintain under its name a separate risk-free interest-bearing Hong Kong dollar bank account with a licensed bank registered under the Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155) solely and exclusively for the purpose of processing all receipts and payments of the project (“designated bank account”).
As TVP funding is provided on a 3 (government):1 (enterprise/organisation) basis, the applicant should first deposit its own share of contribution to the project fund into the designated bank account, and produce the relevant deposit proof to support its request for initial payment.
For example, TVP application with a total project cost of $400,000 is approved with $300,000 Government funding, while the applicant needs to contribute $100,000. The Government will make a maximum initial payment of $75,000 (25% of $300,000) upon the applicant’s deposit of $25,000 (25% of $100,000) to the designated bank account. If the applicant deposits $30,000 (i.e. more than 25% of $100,000), the Government’s initial payment would still be $75,000. If the applicant only deposits $10,000 (i.e. 10% of $100,000), then the Government’s corresponding initial payment would be $30,000 (i.e. 10% of $300,000).
