Greater Bay Area Conference: Inclusive Growth through Innovation and Sustainability

For Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE

Greater Bay Area Conference:
Inclusive Growth through Innovation and Sustainability

Oct 10, 2019, Hong Kong: Co-organized by China Daily and the Silk Road Economic Development Research Center, the 5th Greater Bay Area Conference, previously known as Belt and Road Conference, was held in Hong Kong on Thursday, Oct 10, 2019. The conference attracted nearly 300 political and business leaders, including nearly 30 Consulate Generals.

Mr. C Y LEUNG, GBM, GBS, JP, Vice-Chairman, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, delivered the keynote address in the conference. He said that there is a need for policy innovation to lower or remove the barriers between the two Systems and three customs jurisdictions that coexist in the Bay Area.

Mr. Leung highlighted that government policy innovation is vital to the development of the Bay Area.

He suggested five new government policy innovations in the speech, including using the Hong Kong Macau Bridge to its fullest potential, letting Hong Kong permanent residents who are not Chinese nationals to go the Bay Area cities in Guangdong without having to apply for a visa, opening up the housing markets in all the Guangdong Bay Area cities to Hong Kong residents, further opening up the professional services market and relaxing entry restrictions for qualified scientists to work in the Lok Ma Chau Loop.

The first panel discussion themed “Cross-sector Business Collaboration in the Greater Bay Area”, was chaired by Prof. CHEN Kwan Yiu Edward, GBS, CBE, JP, Chairman, HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. Four guest speakers examined how various sectors can work together to reap opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.

Mr. Max YU, Senior Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, Strategy Management Department of China Resources (Holdings) Co, Ltd ,said that he always has confidence in the development of Greater Bay Area.

He said China Resources Group is taking initiative in developing business in the Greater Bay Area including FinTech, medical services, consumer products, urban construction and energy service etc. He mentioned that the return on investment of China Resources Group in Greater Bay Area is far more than that in other regions.

Prof. SHEN Minghao, Dean, Great Bay Area Institute (Guangdong, Hongkong, Macau), said that the Greater Bay Area marks the new chapter of Reform and Opening. The high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area is a new motivation for the future development of China.

He thinks that the cities within the Greater Bay Area have different characteristics. There is a natural internal need for trans-regional cooperation.

Dr. Thomas S. T. SO, Chairman of Belt and Road Committee and Greater Bay Area Working Group, the Law Society of Hong Kong, said he hopes the law service industry in Hong Kong can embrace the advanced technology. He thinks that the traditional law industry in Hong Kong can have new development in the era of advanced technology through strengthening cooperation with Shenzhen.

The second panel discussion themed “Evolution of Smart Healthcare: Technology & Connected Data”, was chaired by Prof. Hong FUNG, JP, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, CUHK Medical Centre. Guest speakers had in-depth discussions about the evolution of smart healthcare, including big data analysis, and the opportunities it opens up across the sector and other peripheral industries.

In the aspect of trans-regional medical cooperation, the University of Hong Kong has always been the pioneer. Since 2015, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong has collaborated with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to operate the HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, which marked the reform of the public hospitals in the mainland.

Prof. Chung-Mau LO, Hospital Chief Executive, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, said that HKU-Shenzhen Hospital is the combination of the medical systems applied in the mainland and Hong Kong.

He said that the medical system of Hong Kong has advantages in professionalism and internationalism while the medical system of the mainland has comparative advantages in its quantities and efficiency. He thinks that combining the advantages of these two medical systems will become the best sample of medical system in certain extent.

Dr. Ricky Yin-To CHIU, Founder & CEO, PHASE Scientific, said that the development of Greater Bay Area Conference can compensate the insufficiency of Hong Kong.

He thinks that the Bio-Meditech enterprises in Hong Kong can further develop the market of Greater Bay Area.

Ms. Nancy Sau Ling Tse, JP, Former Chief Financial Officer and Director (Finance and Information Technology Services), said that if enterprises that provide medical care can cooperate with FinTech enterprises, a more efficient and cost-effective medical care services can be provided.

Mr. Gary ZHANG, Chairman, Oriental Patron / iCarbonX Health Care Investment and Business Committee, said that the high population, advanced mobile Internet and powerful policy of China provides a good foundation for pushing forward the digitization of medical care data.

He makes a bold prediction that the most successful company in the world in ten years’ time will appear in the field of medical care and that company may appear in China possibly.

In the lunch dialogue, themed "Shenzhen as a Pilot Demonstration Area: Opportunities and Challenges for Hong Kong", Prof. Witman HUNG, JP, Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai Authority and Dr. GUO Wanda, Executive Vice-President, the China Development Institute exchanged views on Hong Kong’s opportunities and challenges in turning Shenzhen into a pilot demonstration area.

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