Opening up of the new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD)
Enabling More Creativity and Business Opportunities on the Internet

HONG KONG, 12 January 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) welcomes the opening up of the new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today and fully supports corporations and organisations wishing to apply for their own gTLD by offering them professional consultancy services.

“HKIRC at all times supports the development and innovative use of the Internet. In addition to promoting the use of .hk and .香港 domain names, HKIRC works closely with industries to take advantage of latest development of the Internet and to help them seize business opportunities. Not only do we support corporations which wish to establish a local online identity by adopting .hk and .香港 domain names, we also encourage corporations to exercise their infinite originality to create innovative domain names in different languages, in order to enhance their competitiveness and branding, as well as to maintain their pioneering positions in their respective industries,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

Applications for new gTLD are open from today to 12 April 2012. Corporations can unleash their imagination and use creative, concise and relevant new gTLDs as their website and email addresses so as to strengthen their brand. The opening up of the new gTLD will also lead to new business opportunities for some companies.

The application for a new gTLD involves large investment and is a complicated process which can last for 9 to 20 months, during which the legal, financial, technical and other aspects of the operation are examined. Devoted to promoting Internet development, and with substantial experience in administering .hk/.香港 domain names and a close working relationship with ICANN, HKIRC began offering gTLD consultancy services to Hong Kong companies and organisations interested in applying for new gTLD in October last year, enabling those companies and organisations to focus on their core business. To date, HKIRC has received enquiries from a range of industries and organisations including listed corporations, popular brands, retailers and media, among others. For more information about gTLD application, please visit https://www.hkirc.hk/GTLD/index.html.

About HKIRC
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Sofia Yip / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7673 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / sofia.yip@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com