Officials, scholars and business representatives assembled in Hong Kong at a forum last week to discuss the development of the Greater Bay Area.
The participants heard that the development of the regional area might provide a solution to Hong Kong’s recent turmoil and ‘a way out’ for the youth of the territory. But with protests now in their 21st consecutive week, not everyone appears convinced.
Consisting of Macau, Hong Kong and nine mainland cities around the Pearl River Delta estuary, the Greater Bay Area is home to 66 million people and has a combined a total gross domestic product equivalent to $1.3 trillion.
Given various external and domestic headwinds in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam stressed that the Greater Bay Area provides new impetus to Hong Kong’s economy and creates development opportunities for local people, especially youth.
Hong Kong should take a more proactive role in the Greater Bay Area with its strengths in financial and professional services, aviation, and innovation and technology, Lam said.
Hong Kong and Macau have a major role to play in the Greater Bay Area, said Xie Feng, the commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR.
The two SARs will be able to expand space for economic development, open up new possibilities, and improve people’s livelihood such as employment, education and healthcare through enhanced cooperation with the mainland and better integration into national development, said Xie.
Analysts at the forum agreed that, although cities in the Greater Bay Area will generally reap benefits from the project, Hong Kong in particular will get a boost that might help it to overcome it current political and economic hardships.
David Gosset, a French expert and founder of the Europe-China Forum, said the Greater Bay Area offers the opportunity for Hong Kong to renew itself and resolve social and economic problems.
With traditional strengths in banking, finance, services and trade, Hong Kong, connected with the Greater Bay Area’s eco-system, could evolve into one of the world’s leading smart cities, Gosset said. “Hong Kong’s future cannot be separated from the Greater Bay Area and the rejuvenation of China.”
Victor Fung, chairman of Hong Kong-based consumer goods export trading giant Fung Group, said the Greater Bay Area may provide cross-border social mobility for people on all sides of the Pearl River Delta. This, he said, will be a tremendous catalyst for Hong Kong to re-invent itself.
“It is really a lifetime opportunity for Hong Kong and especially for young people,” said Fung, according to Xinhua.
However, despite all talk of Hong Kong youth finding opportunities on the mainland side of the Greater Bay, there is little evidence many are willing to take the plunge.
One survey conducted earlier this year, prior to the eruption of protests across Hong Kong, found that 58% of youth respondents in the city would not consider working or living in mainland cities covered by the project. Conducted by a pro-Beijing group, the top two reasons for the respondents’ disinterest in the project was a lack of knowledge on the plan and a desire to remain in or close to Hong Kong.
In Macau, which is often described as having closer ties to the mainland than its sister SAR, most youth said they would not work or live on the mainland side of the Greater Bay, citing lifestyle differences. It was understood, though not explicitly stated on one recent survey, that the lifestyle differences included censorship and information restrictions. DB/Xinhua
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