Hong Kong authorities are considering setting up a company to leverage market forces and speed up the development of the San Tin Technopole, a key project in its sprawling Northern Metropolis plan.
The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau on Thursday published a 34-page “conceptual outline” for the project, which will cover 210 hectares of land reserved for developing the innovation and technology sectors in Hong Kong’s border areas near Shenzhen.
The bureau said the tech hub will adopt a five-phase timeline for construction over the next decade. Once completed, it will contribute HK$250 billion to Hong Kong’s GDP every year and create some 300,000 jobs, the bureau said, citing estimates by a consultant.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said the biggest challenge facing Hong Kong’s technological and industrial advances has been the lack of land. The San Tin project will solve this problem, Sun said.
“This land [in San Tin] will meet the needs of industries. I think this will be a golden opportunity for Hong Kong to develop our industries as fast as possible,” he added.
To expedite the project, the government is considering setting up a “platform company” to lead the development, according to the blueprint. The company will be owned by the government to ensure future development aligns with its policy, but it can collaborate with private firms to attract investment.
Explainer: What is Hong Kong’s San Tin Technopole and why is the planned tech hub controversial?
Kevin Choi, a permanent secretary at the bureau, said at the press conference on Thursday that the idea was modelled on the government’s previous experience of setting up a company to handle development matters at the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone.
Authorities are still discussing the plan, Choi said, without providing a timeline for when such a company will be set up for the San Tin project.
Sun said details, including the cost of the project and an estimate of how much the government would invest, will be worked out “in the next few months or one year,” with his bureau working closely with other government departments such as InvestHK, which is responsible for attracting foreign investment in the city.
He also said the San Tin project will differ strategically with the two existing tech hubs in the city – Cyberport in Hong Kong Island and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park near Tai Po.
San Tin will be a hub for “new industries” due to its proximity to Shenzhen and Hetao, Sun said. Mainland Chinese companies eyeing the international market, and local and overseas firms looking to enter China, may also find San Tin’s location desirable, he added.
The San Tin Technopole “will create a new strategic development framework for Hong Kong, with the finance [sector] in the south and the innovation [sector] in the north,” Sun said.
He also revealed that 27 companies have expressed interest in setting up in the Hetao development zone, saying it could serve as reference for the attractiveness of the San Tin Technopole. About a third of the 27 companies are developers, he added.
Asked about the San Tin project’s potential environmental damage to nearby wetlands, Carrie Chang, deputy secretary for innovation, technology and industry, said the project had incorporated environmental protection measures from its planning stage.
Such measures include a bird corridor as well as low-density and low-altitude development near the Sam Po Shue wetland, which has been UNESCO-recognised since 1995, she said.
Green groups have raised concern over the San Tin Technopole project’s environmental impact and potential damage to ecologically valuable wetlands and endangered species in the area.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Department gave the San Tin Technopole project a green light after proposing ecological mitigation measures on top of those suggested by the government.
