Fully implementing policies for attracting enterprises and investment
President, this year marks the start of the building of China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. The Report on the Work of the Government approved by the 14th National People’s Congress pointed out that a future priority of work of the Government is to “make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign capital”.
In the course of the development of the world economy, some countries and regions, such as Singapore, have brought in technology, capital and equipment by way of joint ventures and collaboration, which enabled them to maximize the efficiency of resource utilization and achieve the goal of building a strong, prosperous nation. Since the reform and opening up of the Mainland, regions with strengths in attracting enterprises and investment, such as places along the southeast coast and the Yangtze River Delta, have seen rapid development of the regional economy.
I am very grateful to Mr Jimmy NG for proposing the motion on “Fully implementing policies for attracting enterprises and investment”, which urges the SAR Government to attract enterprises and investment on all fronts and target specific industries in launching facilitation measures in areas including land, tax, financing and education, thereby strengthening the impetus for growth and long-term competitiveness of Hong Kong’s industries.
Investment promotion per se means that the Government makes use of the resources under its control to steer and publicize its policies, as well as launch infrastructure development, so as to create the best environment for investment and attract investors to come to carry out production and activities.
In the Mainland, a long-established way of attracting foreign investment is the adoption of preferential policies that offer concessions in terms of taxation, land prices, and utilities support to attract the most cost-sensitive investors and business operators. Besides, through organizing various activities for investment promotion and business negotiations, such as investment seminars, projects promotion conferences, collaboration forums, trade fairs and exhibitions, potential customers can be attracted and large-scale publicity can be conducted on the unique advantages of the place for investment. In recent years, the investment promotion teams in the Mainland have taken a selective, targeted approach to proactively launch activities in the economically developed regions or capital- and technology-intensive regions, selecting the key customers for making breakthroughs. These investment promotion approaches are highly target-specific with a relatively high chance of success.
Hong Kong is indeed one of the most competitive economies in the world. Under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong has the most unique advantage of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. The 14th Five-Year Plan, the development of the Greater Bay Area, and the Belt and Road Initiative have all provided Hong Kong with numerous opportunities. But Hong Kong and the Mainland are at different stages of development and possess different advantages. In deciding where to invest their capital, investors also have quite different considerations in choosing between the two places. Added to this is that the world is undergoing great changes unseen in a century, and coupled with a highly complex geopolitical environment, international and regional competition has become even fiercer.
In his Policy Address last year, the Chief Executive stated clearly that Hong Kong must be more proactive and aggressive in “competing for enterprises” and “competing for talents”. To this end, the Government has implemented an array of new initiatives to attract investors worldwide, such as setting up the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, the Talents Service Unit, Dedicated Teams for Attracting Businesses and Talents in the Mainland Offices and overseas Economic and Trade Offices, and so on.
But nowadays, the business facilitation policies provided in places around the world are actually very similar. If we keep following the more traditional approach of the past and only provide such measures as tax concession, rent waiver, guarantee for financing, and assistance for developing emerging markets to attract foreign capital, I think this is far from adequate.
I have noticed some rather big changes in the Government’s thinking about the promotion of family offices in Hong Kong recently. Other than providing tax concessions, Hong Kong will be promoted or marketed through arts and culture, technology empowerment, green development, etc. Personally, I think this is absolutely the right direction. Our country has stated clearly the need for us to move towards high-quality development, which is also the first and foremost task in building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. In taking forward the work to attract target and strategic sectors to establish a presence, Hong Kong must take a cue from the line of thinking in attracting family offices to Hong Kong. The Government can draw up a set of specific support policies tailored to the characteristics of the investors in the strategic industries. For instance, regarding life science and technology, how can we provide adequate support for research and development? And, with regard to I&T, how can we create a good ecosystem for it?
Hong Kong as a melting pot of Chinese and Western cultures has the advantage of being a cosmopolitan city. In attracting enterprises and investment, apart from convincing investors to come by offering them concessions in terms of economic benefits, the Government should also focus more on various respects such as life experience, leisure environment, information infrastructure, and wealth legacy to open the investors’ hearts, thereby achieving twice the result with only half the effort in attracting enterprises and investment.
I will support Mr Jimmy NG’s original motion and the amendments of the other three Members. Thank you, President.