Whatever the fault-finding that captious critics have said or might say, the fact that prominent Hong Kong political figures like Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor took the time to attend and speak at a forum on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development at least shows that Hong Kong is paying a great deal of attention to the project.

That more than 400 SAR government officials, business leaders and academia members also participated in the Wednesday event, co-organized by China Daily and the Silk Road Economic Development Research Center, itself vindicates the worthiness and significance of the 11-city-cluster development initiative.

Socioeconomic development in Hong Kong long ago hit a bottleneck, mainly because of the scarcity of land and other essential resources. This has contributed to the city’s deep-seated problems such as a severe shortage of land for both housing and economic activities; a narrow economic base restricting social upward mobility for young people; and a widening wealth gap pitting certain social strata against the others. Worse, it has crippled the city’s capability to tackle those problems, which have fueled grievances and resentment among residents, especially the youth, in recent years.

The Bay Area project provides Hong Kong with a ready and viable platform to tap into the huge economic hinterland within and beyond the city cluster, allowing Hong Kong to vastly expand the room for its socioeconomic development, as well as enhancing its capability to tackle some of its deep-seated problems by putting to good use its traditional edges.

Meanwhile, deteriorating global geopolitics, which is diminishing Hong Kong’s role as a major entrepot port and squeezing the space for the city’s trade-oriented economy to twist and turn in the international market, also means it is imperative for Hong Kong to look to the Chinese mainland for economic opportunities.

The “dual circulation” strategy, the nation’s new development model that places equal emphasis on both the domestic and external markets as engines for economic growth, is expected to create a huge demand for products and services supplied by both local and external providers, given the large population of the mainland. It is safe to assume that the announcement of the new national development strategy has helped hasten the realization of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

As neighboring countries see the opportunities the Chinese mainland’s next phase of economic development will create and look to its huge market, there is no reason Hong Kong people also cannot see some of this low-hanging fruit.