Stakeholders voice high hopes for Greater Bay Area
Stakeholders from different sectors hold high expectations of the development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, especially for concrete measures that can facilitate the flow of goods, talents, capital and information to be included in the plan.
Their response came after the National Development and Reform Commission revealed on Saturday that a draft plan for the Greater Bay Area development has already been completed and the authorities are seeking suggestions before finalizing the plan.
Witman Hung Wai-man, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority and president of Hong Kong’s Internet Professional Association, suggested that a special travel document be issued to frequent business travelers from cities in the Greater Bay Area, which would offer them fast customs clearance services, multiple entries to the cluster cities, etc.
He explained that the bay area involves three customs systems — the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. Therefore, cutting time and efforts spent on customs, quarantine and immigration clearances would help promote more frequent talent exchanges within the region.
The Greater Bay Area is a national-level development blueprint comprising nine mainland cities in Guangdong province — Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing — and the two SARs — Hong Kong and Macao.
Hong Kong Deputy to the National People’s Congress Priscilla Lau Pui-king said she hoped the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao could set up more attractive taxation policies for businesses to operate in the Greater Bay Area.
Easing enterprises’ tax burdens, either in terms of reduced rates or simplified procedures, would motivate more Hong Kong companies to expand to mainland cities, she said.
Lau also urged the Hong Kong SAR Government to open an economic and trade office in each of the nine mainland cities in the bay area to help Hong Kong get a full picture of mainland development and act faster in grasping collaboration opportunities.
At present, the SAR government has such an office in two of the nine cities — Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It established the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong, in 2002, with the aim of enhancing Hong Kong’s ties and communication with Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and Yunnan provinces, as well as Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Peng Peng, vice-chairman of the experts committee at the Guangdong-based South Non-governmental Thinktank, said the plan should give equal weight to economic development and environment protection in the Greater Bay Area.
The bay area should be a cluster of economically thriving cities with sound environment protection. To achieve that, the cluster should focus on innovation-oriented industries instead of the traditional labor-intensive and high-polluting ones.
NDRC Chairman He Lifeng said on Saturday the Greater Bay Area would be developed into a leading international innovation and technology hub. He made the remarks at a press conference held in Beijing during the ongoing 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
Hong Kong legislator Lo Wai-kwok hailed the development direction, saying it accurately pointed out the diverse advantages enjoyed by cities in the bay area.
Lo, who is also the chairman of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, proposed that more exchanges be made among university students in the nine mainland cities and the two SARs.
He said only through knowing each other would the young people, who are the main force in developing the bay area, realize the opportunities that lie ahead, and make better-informed plans for their studies and careers.
Priscilla Lau Pui-king,