Bay Area Opens Opportunities

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung

The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area announced just three months ago, heralds a new era of development in the region and across all sectors for the 11 cities, including Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and nine other Guangdong cities, coming together for a cluster city development.

The Greater Bay Area represents a collective GDP worth more than US$1.6 trillion which is comparable to Australia or the Republic of Korea, and a population of over 71 million consumers in one of Mainland China's most prosperous regions. In other words, the Greater Bay Area will be the engine to propel the region's development, offering immense opportunities across all sectors including the public relations industry.

The HKSAR Government spares no effort in joining hands with the other 10 cities to develop the Greater Bay Area into one of the world's economic and innovation powerhouses allowing free flow of capital, of goods and of people. With the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the new land boundary control point at Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai, a one-hour living circle encompassing Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau is basically formed.

Since this term of Government took office in 2017, the Central Government has introduced a series of measures to provide facilitation for Hong Kong people living, working and studying on the Mainland, in particular, the measure introduced by the State Council in August last year, which allows Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents to apply for residence permits, which has substantially enriched this living circle. I strongly encourage our public relations professionals to seize these mammoth opportunities in front of us.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung gave these remarks at the 4th Hong Kong Public Relations Awards (2018) Awards Presentation Ceremony & Gala Dinner on May 17.