Business Focus - Greater Bay Area: Connecting Opportunities to the Future

Greater Bay Area: Connecting opportunities to the future

In the works since the early 2000s, the Greater Bay Area project is one of the most ambitious and innovative plans that involve the biggest urban area in the world. Counting over 86 million in population and with a GDP of USD 1,668.8 billion, the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area” is motivated to design modern policies that will be quite beneficial to the development of the area while creating better job opportunities for all the ones involved.

After signing the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Cooperation in 2017, the governments of each country felt more motivated to establish deeper relations so that the entire Greater Area could develop further.

The policies that we will present are Innovation and Technology, Financial Services and Transportation & Logistics.

Innovation and Technology

The Innovation & Technology policy focuses on bringing new job opportunities to young people through funding in research and development (R&D). So far, the Mainland Government has already invested more than $100 billion mostly towards two InnoHK research clusters on healthcare technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics in Science Park.

The government is investing in local universities and research groups as universities in Hong Kong are consistently on the world’s top ratings, therefore the government is focusing on AI and other technological endeavours. In November 2018, the Mainland Government and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) signed a memorandum of understanding that affiliates institutions from Hong Kong and

Guangzhou focused on biomedical research and development. The two parties also launched the Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme in 2019 that allows universities and research institutions to apply for science and technology funding from the Central Government and other municipal governments of the Mainland to use the relevant funding in Hong Kong.

The Government has published the Smart City Blueprint to strengthen Hong Kong’s attractiveness to global business and talent while promoting sustainable economic development. The Blueprint covers 6 areas, namely “Smart Mobility”, “Smart Living”, “Smart Environment”, “Smart People”, “Smart Government” and “Smart Economy”, with more than 70 initiatives.

Financial Services

With Hong Kong’s financial advantage, the city has been closely connected to the Mainland’s development for the past four decades. Due to its robust financial regime and strong international connections, Hong Kong has played a significant role in helping the Mainland to become the world’s second-largest economy. Hong Kong has served as a two-way gateway to connect the Mainland to other international markets. Currently, more than 1,100 Mainland enterprises are listed in Hong Kong with a combined market value of over US$2 trillion. On the other hand, with the launch of the offshore Renminbi (RMB) business in 2004, Hong Kong has become a global hub and has been handling over 70 per cent of the world’s offshore RMB’s transactions.

With this significant economical program, the Government has also been actively promoting the development of green finance and, under the Government Green Bond Programme, with an issuance size of US$1 billion and a tenure of 5 years the Green Fund was launched in September 2021 to promote transparency in the investment process.

As for the insurance and bond market, Hong Kong is the premier choice for Mainland companies focusing on risk management because of its high insurance density and because its bond market ranks third in terms of issuance after Mainland China and Korea.

Transportation and Logistics

Hong Kong has always had an advantage in the transportation industry because of its very strategic position and therefore, the Government is aiming to consolidate the city’s role by turning it into an international aviation hub, international maritime centre and regional logistics hub.

The Airport Authority of Hong Kong (AAHK) is planning to enhance its intermodal facilities and to strengthen Hong Kong’s International Airport’s role as an aviation hub by connecting passengers from the PRD region via the HZMB (Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai Bridge) for outbound flight to the restricted area of HKIA direct. In order to enrich travellers’ experience, the AAHK is also taking forward the “SKYCITY” project: integrated retail, dining and entertainment destination bound to become a unique tourist attraction.

To create a stronger synergy between Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), the Guangzhou- Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the HKIA, the AAHK has made available check-in services at the West Kowloon Station of XRL and the Hong Kong Port of HZMB. Such services are also available at various ports and stations in PRD cities and Macao. The coverage of such services will continue to expand in different locations in PRD cities in the future to provide excellent and convenient services to passengers.

As for its port, Hong Kong has one of the busiest ports in the world, as the nine Kwai Tsing Container Terminals provide 24 berths operating round-theclock.

Another important transportation project is the introduction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) in 2018, which connects with the national high-speed rail network and significantly shortens the travelling time between Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, along with other cities in the PRD.

All of these initiatives have proceeded smoothly and have given motivation to all three areas to further utilise the HZMB.