Opinion | How to encourage the flow of Hong Kong’s youth, talent and innovation across the Greater Bay Area

In seeking to understand and address Hong Kong’s turmoil, we should not overlook its economic roots. For some of the city’s young people, anxieties about house prices and social mobility, for example, have fed into a sense of uncertainty about the future. Thankfully, development of the Greater Bay Area offers great opportunities.

Hong Kong has prospered as a gateway to China. However, it continues to rely on the same pillar sectors it has for decades. The bay area scheme offers a golden opportunity for Hong Kong to reposition itself and diversify, acting as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Once known as the “world’s factory”, the bay area is shifting towards innovation-driven development. Fuelled by the circulation of finance, ideas and expertise, it shares attributes with leading urban clusters such as the Tokyo Bay Area, New York metropolitan area, and the San Francisco Bay Area. In gross domestic product terms, the Greater Bay Area may surpass all of these as early as 2022, having reached US$1.6 trillion last year.

As a bridge between China and the outside world, Hong Kong has a unique role to play in the bay area. Previously, the city served as a regional conduit for goods and capital. With its strengths in financial services, scientific research and management, Hong Kong is ideally placed to be the bay area’s hub for talent. The bay area also offers the ready-made market and linkages to nurture thriving Hong Kong entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Innovation and talent should be at the forefront of planning. Policies should be coordinated across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to facilitate talent integration, resource sharing, and collaboration in research and entrepreneurship. An effective cross-border working mechanism would help achieve this.