Exclusive | Northern Metropolis flexibility not ‘favouring developers’: Hong Kong minister
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn reveals six-year construction cap could be extended under incentives to boost investor appeal
Relaxing development rules in Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis should be viewed not as yielding to developers but as part of a broader effort to attract investors, the development minister has said, as she revealed new incentives and details of the special legislation for the megaproject.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said that the government was considering extending the six-year construction limit under the first large-scale land parcel scheme in Hung Shui Kiu, following recent measures introduced to improve the project’s financial viability.
The proposal could be among a number of incentives aimed at encouraging bidders to join the project tender by the end of this year. The scheme is designed to harness market forces to accelerate the development of the 30,000-hectare (74,132-acre) Northern Metropolis near the city’s border with mainland China.
Linn said that the government hoped to attract developers and enterprises while tapping into the market for land and industrial development.
“To be realistic, we are competing with others … We have advantages such as a low tax rate, common law and strict contractual management, but we could lose to others due to our relatively high [construction] costs and lengthy approval process,” she said.
“As our wages are high, what offsets can we provide to attract them? We need to think about other areas. They hope to have a longer construction period.