Northern Metropolis And Ai Vital To Hong Kong’s 5-year Plan: Business Chambers

Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan should prioritise the Northern Metropolis mega development, strengthen the city’s position as an international financial centre and advance its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, major business chambers have said.

In submissions for the city’s first five-year plan, groups including the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham) and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) identified the Northern Metropolis as a key economic driver.

Their recommendations are among more than 16,000 submissions received by authorities before the public consultation closed on Friday. The blueprint, expected to be published in September, will set the direction for Hong Kong’s development in alignment with China’s 15th five-year plan covering the years between 2026 and 2030.

First announced in 2021, the metropolis aims to transform about 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land along the mainland Chinese border into an engine for growth, a housing hub and a university town.

“Over the next five years, the development of the Northern Metropolis should be guided by industrial development, enterprise presence and employment outcomes,” FHKI said.

The development of the Northern Metropolis should be guided by industrial development, enterprise presence and employment outcomes over the next five years, according to FHKI. Photo: Eugene Lee

AmCham called for a single statutory entity to streamline coordination and facilitate public-private partnerships. It also urged deeper Greater Bay Area wealth integration by expanding Wealth Management Connect quotas and widening eligible product scopes.

On AI, the chambers pressed for a top-level industry strategy.

FHKI said the plan should first focus on life and health technology and embody intelligence before driving broader AI adoption across sectors.

“The first five-year plan should set out a top-level strategy for Hong Kong’s AI development, promoting both ‘AI industrialisation’ and ‘industrial AI adoption’,” FHKI said.

It added that the government should help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) move from “using AI to improve efficiency” to “using AI to create new value”, while enhancing support for computing power, data and talent, and strengthening the government’s own AI adoption.

AmCham recommended making more data available to the public, businesses and academia for research and commercial purposes so Hong Kong can fully reap the benefits of the data-driven AI age.

Both chambers also highlighted the need to reinforce Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.

AmCham said the government should “reinforce Hong Kong’s leading listing position, enhance secondary market liquidity and cost efficiency, and advance the Securities and Futures Commission’s fixed income and currency road map”.

FHKI said Hong Kong should leverage its international outlook and professional services strengths to serve as a “superconnector”, “super value-adder” and “super collaborator”, helping local and mainland enterprises align with international standards.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) called for strategies to develop a space economy, covering space computing, high-precision payload development and space robotics.

“The global space economy is expanding at an unprecedented pace … Hong Kong risks becoming a bystander if it fails to formulate a systematic strategy in a timely manner,” it said.

HKUST added that by capitalising on its international connectivity, Hong Kong could become a key gateway for China’s space industry to engage with global markets, including by establishing a dedicated capital-market platform for aerospace enterprises, providing world-class legal and compliance services, and developing a space-data services ecosystem.