Greater Bay Area: Hong Kong should remake itself as supply chain ‘control tower’, ‘aviation metropolis’ to capitalise on opportunities, report says

The report, conducted by the think tank 2022 Foundation, outlines seven areas where Hong Kong can take advantage of bay area opportunities

The report envisions Hong Kong taking a leading role in the bay area’s development, and spearheading China’s further integration into the global economy

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A think tank has urged Hong Kong to leverage its openness to take a leading role in the Greater Bay Area scheme. Photo: Sun Yeung

Published: 8:00am, 8 Apr 2021Updated: 8:08am, 8 Apr 2021

Hong Kong should aim to be the “control tower” for Asia’s supply chains, and could play a leadership role in advancing the development of China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) as its most advanced and open member city, according to a new policy report.

The report, conducted by the think tank 2022 Foundation, outlined on Wednesday seven areas where Hong Kong could fully capitalise on the opportunities arising from the ambitious bay area scheme, including making itself an “aviation metropolis”, turning the region into a world-leading innovation hub and becoming the world’s centre for trade finance.

The report took a deeper look at Hong Kong’s role and opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, Beijing’s plan to integrate Hong Kong and 10 other cities around the Pearl River Delta into an economic and technological powerhouse.

Shenzhen is one of nine mainland cities included in the Greater Bay Area, along with Hong Kong and Macau. Photo: Martin Chan

The Fung Group’s Victor Fung Kwok-king, chairman of the think tank, said Hong Kong could become the hub and digital “control tower” for expanded trade and investment flows among members of the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the free trade agreement recently established by China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 Asean states.

“We need to extend our existing roles in capital raising, operations management, and financial and professional services for global supply chains in the Pacific so that we adequately cover those areas where new supply chains – and new global consumption growth – are emerging,” Fung said. “RCEP, which is potentially the world’s largest single market, is where traditional and new flows meet.”

To achieve this goal, the report said Hong Kong should strive to build and operate the necessary technological and blockchain interfaces between factories, logistics operators, ports and airports.

The report also envisioned Hong Kong leveraging its openness to take a leading role in the Greater Bay Area’s development, and spearheading China’s further integration into the global economy. The cities included in the scheme have a combined population of some 70 million and a gross domestic product of US$1.7 trillion – the equivalent of South Korea’s.

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