IN DETAIL: GREATER BAY AREA
Down but Not Out Despite geopolitical and economic volatility, and the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, there are emerging market opportunities for the Greater Bay Area. – By Tom Gaffney
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ast February, the Chinese government put to action a development plan for the wider Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) region. But there’s no denying that this region in particular has been wreathed by geopolitical and economic uncertainties. From our perspective, though, we expect this part of the world to remain an investment hotspot in the long term. Guangdong is rising to the ranks of an economic powerhouse in China, its GDP was the first Chinese province to beat the 10.5 trillion yuan mark last year. Encircled by Hong Kong and Macau, the GBA as a whole, plays a pivotal role in bringing momentum to China’s economic progress. Development of the GBA will provide the beating pulse to the area’s residential, office, logistics and industrial, retail and capital markets. Each city
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within the region has a competitive edge and the policies within the development plan can help showcase them. For example, fintech giants have helped put Shenzhen on the map in terms of finance, technology and innovation, while Macau is dedicated to its tourism-oriented businesses. In a recent survey conducted by KPMG, HSBC and HKGCC, senior leadership interviewed in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau planned to expand their operations in the GBA by 2022, reinforcing their sense of optimism in this region and giving us good reason to believe that the sentiment here remains robust As more policies and large-scale infrastructural projects are rolled out to as part of GBA development, e.g. the high-speed rail and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the connectivity
