Business leaders see rosy future for bay area

Foreign business leaders and policymakers expressed confidence in South China's further development during a meeting in Hong Kong on Friday.

"A New Journey with Greater Opportunities: A Virtual Tour of the Greater Bay Area for Foreign Businesses in Hong Kong" was jointly held by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the SAR government and the Guangdong provincial government.

Attending the event, Bjoern Lindner, president of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said that the city's further integration into the mainland offers lots of possibilities. He said the SAR government's ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 is a plan that requires the mutual efforts of all cities in the Greater Bay Area.

Noting the negative influence of the border closure situation posed by the pandemic, Lindner hoped that the border will reopen soon so that normal business activities can be resumed and promising possibilities in the GBA can be pursued.

David Graham, executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said the GBA is a promising platform for Hong Kong to give full play to its strength in the fields of financial services, professional services, business resolution and arbitration, as well as innovation and technology.

Graham said the National Security Law for Hong Kong brings the city stability, which he believes is good for business. He said the law also brought a better relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland, with new business opportunities to be explored.

The event also included a virtual tour of six enterprises from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai and their respective business focuses, including intelligent equipment and biomedical electronics.

The foreign business leaders are not the only ones to have confidence in the GBA.

Addressing the event, Liu Guangyuan, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong SAR, said the area's development reflects China's determination to open wider to the world, its opportunities in fostering a new development paradigm and the SAR's benefits in getting onboard the fast-train of China's development.

The commissioner's office will further support business groups to explore opportunities in the GBA so that they can share the dividends of the region's development and benefit from Hong Kong's integration into overall national development.

In a keynote speech, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said companies in Hong Kong, which have a head start, will stand to reap opportunities from the GBA.

Lam said the area's development is more than a regional development project, but also a platform that will bring Hong Kong closer with mainland cities and enhance its international trade and cooperation.

Huang Liuquan, deputy head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, told attendees that in Hong Kong's future development, the "one country, two systems" policy and its unique strengths will remain unchanged.

Huang said the 14th Five-Year Plan and the GBA have both provided great platforms for Hong Kong's growth. He encouraged the chambers and enterprises to seize more opportunities and continue to benefit from "one country, two systems" and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.