Strengthening Hong Kong’s distinctiveness l The Greater Bay Area [GBA], a nodal point for Hong Kong’s future economy, is the focus of much discussion today.
l 香港科技大學公共政策研究學部教授劉浩典表示，與 內地相比，他對香港的獨特優勢充滿信心——作為國 際金融和商業服務中心。
l Opportunities for young people to develop careers there have become increasingly evident, albeit clouded in recent years by the pandemic.
l 他強調，香港在疫情後的復蘇明顯領先內地，雖然與 內地通關是重要，但香港應優先與世界其他地區接 軌。
l YHK asks Prof Donald Low of HKUST’s Institute for Emerging Market Studies, what he thinks about the barriers that still exist, and how Hong Kong maintain competitive edge.
l 劉教授指，在大灣區「以用戶為導向」的領域中， 有 很 多 創 造 就 業 的 機 會， 比 如 本 地 科 技 物 流 公 司 Lalamove、旅遊科技公司 Klook 均值得借鏡。
“Barriers between Hong Kong and the GBA, the Pearl River Delta as it used to be called, have been falling for some time, particularly where infrastructure and connectivity are concerned. Most established businesses in Hong Kong have strong links in the GBA. I think the next hurdles to overcome are the barriers between people and between the different regulatory environments and institutions.”
“The GBA is moving from low-end to high-end technology whereas Hong Kong has an established knowledge-based service economy.” While there are advantages of scale, given the geographical size of the GBA, Hong Kong can emphasize its breadth of skills and experience on an international level. By leveraging its unique advantages as a globally oriented financial and business services hub, it is possible to overcome some of the problems it faces, both in economic recovery and further integration with the GBA, he assures us.
There are lots of opportunities for job creation in ‘user-oriented’ areas in the GBA.
While he has no doubt that certain barriers will exist until the dynamic zero-covid strategy changes, Prof Low stresses that it’s already clear how far ahead of mainland China Hong Kong is on the road to post-pandemic recovery. He points out how very unfortunate it would be to jeopardize its recovery now. “It’s possible to prioritize the opening of the mainland border as a key policy goal. But, the sequence of opening up can be different from priorities. Hong Kong can and should open up to the rest of the world first and not wait any longer.” Prof Low is confident of the strengths that lie in Hong Kong’s distinctiveness when compared to mainland China.
When asked about sectors where youthful Hong Kong talent should focus, he says that careers in trade and logistics, financial services and other industries that are technology-intensive have appeal for many young people. He reminds us of the higher salaries that go with them. “The skills needed are increasingly tradable across borders and talented professionals in Hong Kong can build on this and develop a distinctive competitive edge vis-à-vis their counterparts in mainland China.”
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