China News Service, Hong Kong, February 18 (Reporter Wei Huadu) The 18th marks the fifth anniversary of the release of the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." People from all walks of life in Hong Kong said in interviews with reporters that the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has progressed in the past five years. Results have been achieved in 2016. In the future, under the premise of accelerating integration, Hong Kong needs to continue to leverage its own advantages and cooperate with the mainland to achieve greater economic results.
"In recent years, we have felt that the development pace of the Greater Bay Area has accelerated. The completion of transportation infrastructure such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has boosted the economy in the region; Hong Kong has close communication with other Greater Bay Area cities to attract more high-quality companies to Hong Kong." Wu Haiyue, secretary-general of the District Economic and Trade Association, said when sharing his feelings.
Peng Fuqiang, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Greater Bay Area Committee of CPA Australia's Greater China Branch, said that in the past few years, the cooperation between the "9+2" cities in the Greater Bay Area has transitioned from a single "functional complementation and common development" to "Keeping pace and accelerating integration" will further enhance Guangdong Province's scientific and technological strength, productivity and international competitiveness.
Innovation and technology is an important driving force for the economic development of the Greater Bay Area and an important economic development engine for Hong Kong. The construction of the Greater Bay Area is bringing rare opportunities to Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development and enhancing Hong Kong’s international competitiveness.
Lin Zhi, founding president of the Greater Bay Area Youth Science and Technology Innovation Foundation, said that in the past few years, many Hong Kong higher education institutions have established branch campuses and laboratories in other Bay Area cities, combining the experience of the mainland to promote the transformation of scientific research and technology, coupled with the support of the governments of the two places. With financial and policy support, Hong Kong draws on the experience of the mainland to promote the linkage between science and technology parks and institutions. It can be seen that the development of innovation and technology in the Greater Bay Area has formed the prototype of a cluster of "education and technological achievement transformation".
Against this background, Lin Zhi believes that the opportunities brought to Hong Kong by the construction of the Greater Bay Area are very obvious. He suggests that in the future, the two places will continue to strengthen the flow of talents and the linkage of innovation and technology enterprises, and the cooperation between institutions and the government. “Hong Kong can carry out research and development in mainland cities in the Bay Area. Connect more application scenarios, launch products, incubate scientific research projects, establish laboratories at lower costs, recruit talents, etc., and even enter other provinces and cities through the Bay Area.”
In terms of finance, Wu Haiyue mentioned that Hong Kong, as one of the "core engines" of the Greater Bay Area, must find its own advantages in the face of major changes. It can collaborate with sister cities in the Bay Area while leveraging their respective advantages, such as helping mainland companies to list in Hong Kong. Raise funds to leverage Hong Kong’s capabilities as a financial center and high-end services; strengthen cooperation with other industries to achieve “1+1=3”.
There are also opinions that the Greater Bay Area economy has taken shape and has made significant progress in many economic areas. With the construction of the Greater Bay Area focusing on two-way cooperation, it will play the role of "super contact" to help more mainland companies "go global" and also attract overseas companies to develop business in the Greater Bay Area.
Peng Fuqiang pointed out that at the end of last year, the mainland issued the "Qianhai Master Plan", "Hengqin Master Plan" and "Three-year Action Plan for Building an International First-class Business Environment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", which targeted finance, technology, industry, information , talents and business environment, coupled with the delay in the implementation of some favorable policies due to the epidemic in recent years, it is believed that the Greater Bay Area is expected to accelerate development and achieve more impressive results in the next three years.
Hung Wen, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, pointed out that Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities have achieved certain results in financial interconnection, but there are still many cross-border communication barriers between the two places. It is recommended to further open up the barriers and promote the integration of the two places. (over)