Budget Hails Bay Area, But No Plans Revealed

The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, in his budget speech on Wednesday, hailed the Greater Bay Area initiative, saying it provides "golden opportunities" for Hong Kong. But he didn't roll out any concrete plans on how the city will leverage on this.

Chan praised the President Xi Jinping-led initiative a few times in his budget speech, saying that the SAR will benefit from the regional development plan that covers Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities.

Chan said the plan presents Hong Kong with great business opportunities in a wide range of sectors, from being a financial hub to IT development and the aviation sector.

But the secretary stopped short of explaining how exactly the government would leverage on the plan which aims to create an economic entity that covers a population of around 70 million.