Letters | Hong Kong’s new chief executive must have vision to revive economy
- Readers discuss the upcoming chief executive election, possible collaboration with Shenzhen and the city’s need for a transformational leader
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the weaknesses of our economy. Hong Kong is too dependent on the financial sector as well as the retail and catering industries supporting the real estate sector. Following the effects of the pandemic and the measures to contain it, we have now seen how fragile our service industry is.
We should fine-tune our education system to nurture talented youth with technical knowledge and skills. With adequate supplies of fresh graduates and skilful technicians, Hong Kong can attract unicorn companies and multinational enterprises.
Take Shenzhen for example. Our neighbouring city takes the initiative to draw and retain talent in hi-tech sectors. Technological giants such as Huawei are headquartered in Shenzhen. As a leader in information and communications technology, Huawei has developed a range of consumer products including smartphones and audio products. Amid healthy competition in Shenzhen, the brand has grown further to explore solutions-based services.
Huawei employs more than 107,000 people for research and development, and says it will recruit more than 10,000 fresh graduates this year. According to its white paper released last year, by the end of 2020 Huawei held more than 100,000 active patents in more than 40,000 patent families worldwide, and these are valuable economic assets.