Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen says the government will adopt 'new thinking' to tackle the land-shortage problem to enable the development of six new economic 'pillars' that will help turn Hong Kong into a knowledge-based city.
It will reserve two sites in urban areas for private universities and four sites for private hospitals.
The initiatives, announced by Mr Tsang yesterday after the fifth and last meeting of the Taskforce on Economic Challenges, are part of the government's efforts to develop six knowledge-based industries: education; medical services; environmental industries; innovation and technology; cultural and creative industries; and food safety and product testing.
'One common limitation facing the further development of these six industries is a shortage of land resources,' he said. 'We know that this may not be a problem that the market can resolve entirely on its own. The government will adopt an open mind and new thinking in tackling this limitation so that the full potential of the six industries may be realised.'
Mr Tsang said the government hoped the two sites reserved for education would be used to develop high-quality private universities. 'It would help diversify Hong Kong's tertiary education,' he said.
An Education Bureau source said each of the sites reserved for private universities would provide a floor area of 200,000 sq ft to accommodate at least 2,000 students. Each site would cost at least HK$1 billion.
'We believe the sites are likely to be used for provision of self-financed bachelor programmes,' the source said. The bureau would announce the details by the end of the year.
