Time For HK To 'reindustrialise'- Alice Mak

Federation of Trade Unions legislator, Alice Mak, has called on the government to reform Hong Kong's economy by re-industralising the city.

Speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong, Mak said Kong Kong relied too much on the services sector, and it was time for the SAR to seek closer ties with the rest of the Greater Bay Area, as China plans to boost domestic consumption in what it calls the dual circulation strategy.

Mak called on the SAR to set up a so-called New Start Committee to formulate policy.

"We should encourage the development of the production of high-technology goods and encourage high value-adding industries to return to Hong Kong, as well as elevating and transforming traditional industrial work to create jobs for Hong Kong’s skilled workers," she said. "The Central Government has recently announced the dual circulation plan, where there would be a new heightened emphasis on local consumption.

"Now would be a most suitable time for Hong Kong to incorporate into the Greater Bay area. The New Start Committee should formulate strategies on how to join in on the developments of the domestic and international circulation as part of China’s new dual circulation plan," she said.

Mak says that as the pandemic dies down, the government should reconsider introducing a health code system, saying it would allow people who've tested negative for Covid-19 to travel freely between Hong Kong and the mainland for a limited time.

"Many workers with cross border jobs have already not been able to work for the majority of the year, have been longing for the establishment of the health code, eager to resume work," Mak said.

"Many cross-border families and students who also need the health code system to cross borders safely."

She also called on the government to formulate plans to attract travellers when the virus is under control "and with the use of the health code, should be made to ensure that the various businesses and workers that are in those industries that rely on tourism can regain momentum again as soon as possible to ensure that our economy would not be held still because of the coronavirus."