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Friday, October 27, 2017, 01:13
HK set to move forward in national projects
By Duan Ting
Friday, October 27, 2017, 01:13 By Duan Ting

HONG KONG - Detailed planning for Greater Bay Area development is expected to be implemented by the end of this year or early next year, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told the third anniversary forum of Master Insight on Thursday. 

Lam also said Hong Kong will sign an agreement with the National Development and Reform Commission to detail the city’s full role in the Belt and Road Initiative, which was confirmed during her visit to Beijing in August.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is an important region in the Belt and Road Initiative.

He said the Belt and Road vision had the characteristics of “one country, two systems” and three customs areas. It needed innovation in policies and systems to facilitate the flow of people, capital and information, said Nip.

The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau plans to establish an office in the Greater Bay Area to coordinate different bureaus in Hong Kong with the NDRC, Guangdong and Macao governments, as well as business and professional groups. 

Premier Li Keqiang noted in the government work report in March that the country will promote and broaden cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area was signed on July 1 in Hong Kong.

ZhengYongnian, professor and director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, said the Belt and Road Initiative, which had huge potential, was also a great way to realize the sustainable development of China.

Zheng said the Greater Bay Area is like a “European Union” but it is within China and supported by one central government.

He said a committee at central government level is needed to coordinate affairs within the bay area; Zheng suggests the mainland implement a unilateral opening policy to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.

He also said Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center will not fade away; the world’s economic center will remain in Asia in the next 20 to 30 years. Zheng added that Hong Kong has key advantages in financial services, skilled people and internationalization.

Capital favors Hong Kong; therefore, the SAR won’t be easily replaced by cities such as Shanghai, he ventured. 

Jonathan Choi Koon-shum, permanent honorary president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong, said the city’s advantages could be expressed as: connector, investor and operator – namely CIO.

Hong Kong had been the biggest investor in the manufacturing industry in Guangdong and in future the city’s companies could cooperate with the mainland’s enterprises to go out, he said. 

Lam also said during her speech at the event that she is confident about Hong Kong’s future; her team had a strong sense of purpose and urgency. 

Lam said Hong Kong, backed by the mainland, has huge opportunities ahead.

Reviewing the past 20 years, the close relationship between the mainland and Hong Kong, with stock and bond connect schemes, Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, mutual fund recognition and recent issuance of $2 billion sovereign bonds, had made the SAR adynamic global financial center, she added. 

tingduan@chinadailyhk.com

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