The SAR's inaugural five-year plan will allow foreign firms operating in the city to understand its "strategic vision" in the longer term, according to the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

In an interview with RTHK, chairman Johannes Hack said the release of the blueprint's public consultation document enables businesses to brainstorm ideas and plan ahead.

"I think the key expectation is that it allows you to understand what is the strategic vision, so where does Hong Kong want to be in five years' time, what will it take to get there, and of course, business appreciates a strategic idea of what their partners want," he said.

"So that allows business to prepare, to come up with solutions, to come up with products that will serve the needs of Hong Kong in the five years ahead."

For European businesses, Hack said they are particularly interested in innovation and technology, such as life sciences, biotech and sustainability in the Northern Metropolis.

In order to offer a better understanding of the mega hub, the five-year plan as well as the Greater Bay Area as a whole, he suggested carrying out a lighthouse project – an initiative that helps demonstrate the feasibility of ideas – to showcase what could be done.

"A lighthouse project could be, for instance, cooperation on medical equipment development or could be cooperation on medicine development, where you showcase that you've got a Western company coming in, setting up shop here or expanding its shop, and then actually producing a drug that then gets licensed in all of the GBA," he said.

"That's the kind of thing where it would become filled with life, where you could then say 'ok, that is what it actually is, and this is what it allows us to do.'"

The Northern Metropolis project comes first among the six core areas listed in the consultation document, which the government looks to accelerate its development and advance planning in other areas.

Hack said with ongoing education as well as field trips arranged to the Northern Metropolis, foreign firms in Hong Kong already have "a pretty clear idea" about the mega project.

"I think the one where it's probably most progressed is really in terms of actual physical infrastructure, MTR for instance, where you have a quite famous European company doing all the signalling for the MTR that will go to the Northern Metropolis."

Hack noted that the administration has been doing "an excellent job" in helping foreign firms set up shop or expand their business.

He said there are more European than mainland or American firms in Hong Kong.

"It tells you that it is a super easy place to set up a business, it's super convenient, it's easy to execute – all you need is some ideas. There's good financing, [and] there's good support."



Edited by Edmond Fong