Outlining his second Policy Address at the HKGCC Joint Community Business Luncheon on 16 November, Chief Executive John Lee highlighted the importance of cultivating a results-oriented culture in administration, and the role of the business community and its visionary leaders in paving the way for a better Hong Kong.
The event was attended by Chamber leadership, international and local business executives, Consuls General, as well as chambers of commerce in Hong Kong.
Promising to keep his speech short – a lighthearted reference to his over three-hour-long Policy Address at LegCo in October – Lee said it was good to see Hong Kong on the world centre stage again.
“In just the past three weeks since my Policy Address, a series of mega-scale and international events have drawn a variety of policymakers, game-changers and talents from around the world to Hong Kong,” said Lee.
Hong Kong has successfully played host to a slew of international events this year. These include the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, which attracted 300 leaders from 160 institutions; Hong Kong Legal Week, which featured a judicial summit by the UN Commission on International Trade Law and registered more than 11,000 participants; and Hong Kong FinTech Week with its audience of over 30,000.
Sports fans also got to revel in the return of the Hong Kong Golf Open and the Cross-Harbour Race, while the night economy was given a boost by the Wine & Dine Festival at Central Harbourfront, which saw a turnout of over 140,000.
Lee said these mega events had served to bolster inbound tourism and private consumption, giving a solid boost to the local economy. In the third quarter this year, real GDP grew by 4.1 per cent year-on-year. Also in the third quarter, private consumption expenditure rose 6.3 per cent from a year ago. Overall investment expenditure rebounded sharply by 18.4 per cent.
However, he warned that the economy was not out of the woods just yet.
“We recently revised downwards our 2023 full-year GDP growth forecast to 3.2 per cent, from the previous estimate of between 4 and 5 per cent growth,” said Lee. “This, for the most part, reflects external headwinds that we are facing, notably increasing geopolitical tensions and tight financial conditions that may continue to weigh on goods exports and investment sentiment.”
Noting the mixed and complex global economic picture, Lee said he remains steadfast in his governance blueprint to President Xi Jinping’s the principles for the current-term SAR Government. These included the implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle, allowing Hong Kong to confidently focus on serving as a value-adding conduit for trade, investment and talent between the Mainland and the rest of the world.
“We can count on the full support of the Central Government, and foster even closer people-to-people, business-to-business and government-to-government links between the Hong Kong SAR and the Mainland,” said Lee. “This will ensure confidence and stability. This also helps local and international firms to tap into the vast opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and throughout the Mainland.”
Hong Kong’s tried and trusted systems also offer overseas companies a familiar business environment and a level playing field underpinned by a robust common law system, and a judiciary that exercises its powers independently. Lee pointed out that according to the 2023 Rule of Law Index published by the World Justice Project, Hong Kong ranked 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions, putting the city in the top one-fifth.
And as one of the freest economies in the world, Hong Kong counts among its value-adding advantages many free trade agreements signed with 20 economies and investment deals with 32 economies around the world. Lee also expressed optimism for Hong Kong to enter the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Lee underlined the importance of a results-driven administration and community. “I am happy with the progress that we have made in cultivating a result-oriented culture within the Hong Kong SAR Government,” he said. “This is a core element of further improving governance, as mentioned by President Xi last year.”
Meanwhile, the Government is working to attract strategic enterprises to Hong Kong. So far, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) has made contact with over 200 strategic enterprises around the world, of which 30 are planning to establish their foothold or expand their operations in Hong Kong, Lee revealed. This represents a total of more than $30 billion of new investment in Hong Kong, and the creation of about 10,000 jobs.
Another area of importance is the headquarters economy. Lee said around 9,000 companies from the Mainland and overseas had established operations in Hong Kong, with around 1,400 operating as regional headquarters. Companies are also being encouraged to re-domicile in Hong Kong, in particular those with a business focus in the Asia-Pacific region.
Lee said the Government’s strategies to attract skilled professionals to the city have been extremely successful. Enhanced talent schemes attracted over 180,000 applications in the first 10 months of 2023. More than 110,000 have been approved, and some 70,000 people have already arrived – double the annual target of 35,000.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme launched last year has seen the addition of eight top-ranked institutions, allowing eligible graduates from 184 institutions in China and around the world can apply to stay in Hong Kong for two years. Lee said more than 43,000 applicants have been approved – including former NBA basketball star Stephon Marbury, who intends to support the development of the sport in Hong Kong.
Lee explained that foreign staff of companies registered in Hong Kong could also apply for a multiple-entry visa to the Mainland, while visa policies for talent from Vietnam, Laos and Nepal have been relaxed.
Looking ahead to the city’s long-term growth and economic capacity, Lee discussed the Northern Metropolis, whose “scope, complexity and potential,” which he described as all huge. At about one-third of Hong Kong’s total landmass, the Northern Metropolis will eventually be home to about 2.5 million people and create some half a million jobs. He stressed that while the project would be completed over a few decades, It was “vital for Hong Kong’s future.”
He also applauded the business community and its visionary leaders for their role in driving economic development and paving the way for a better Hong Kong.
After the address, the Chief Executive fielded a range of questions on various topics from the audience, including measures to tackle talent shortage especially in mid-level management; the differences between the New Industrialization and Re-Industrialization funding schemes; and the impact of the Northern Metropolis.