HK young people urged to grasp B&R opportunities
Young people in Hong Kong should actively study the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative and keep a close eye on developments in B&R countries and regions, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told a forum at the Qianhai economic zone in Shenzhen on Thursday.
The forum was organized by the Hong Kong Chinese Importers’ and Exporters’ Association, which also arranged for a team of Hong Kong students to visit Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen to communicate with young people in these leading mainland cities.
“The B&R, as well as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will bring new opportunities to students of all majors and the space for your development is very big,” Leung told the forum.
Dismissing concerns that the B&R is too far away from the lives of young people, Leung said it is actually not and could provide more development space for them than before.
“In the past, an engineering graduate can only take on maintenance work of elevators or buildings in the city, but now they can choose to build high-speed rail, world- class bridges and all kinds of projects around the world,” he added.
Unveiled by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the B&R is the national economic development strategy vision that connects China with 65 countries with 4.4 billion people, forming a group that generates about 40 percent of the world’s total GDP.
Many young Hong Kong people work or study on the mainland, while many mainlanders work in the special administrative region. “Though it brings competition, the exchange also greatly facilitates communication across the boundary and promotes our productivity,” Leung noted.
It has become a trend for young Hong Kong people to start new careers on the mainland. For example, an incubating space named E-hub in Qianhai had about 187 startups being incubated in the past two years — 93 of them comprised teams from Hong Kong and Macao.
Dennis Cheung, director of ShowMuse, one of Hong Kong teams in the E-hub, called on Hong Kong youth at the forum to take action and grasp the historical opportunities of the B&R.
His startup, supported by both Hong Kong and Shenzhen incubators, is a mobile video-tutorial application and is exploring Southeastern Asian market.