The Chief Executive’s, John Lee Ka-chiu, annual policy address painted a bright future for Hong Kong with his opening remarks concentrating on the Northern Metropolis development and advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).
His address was very bullish despite the world being in a state of turmoil due to the on-off-on policies of the US administration. But undaunted, Lee closed his speech with “the Pearl of the Orient will keep shining brighter than ever before.”
Hong Kong has achieved many accolades for its accomplishments in 2024 and Lee is determined that the city will not sit on its laurels and will move forward with even more ambitious plans for the years ahead.
In his eyes the future for Hong Kong lies in artificial intelligence which will come with the development of the Northen Metropolis along the boundary with Shenzhen. He appears to have been concerned by the progress of the development and has set up a series of initiatives to speed up progress. The plan is massive with the land area and planned population intake accounting for about one-third of Hong Kong’s total.
He plans to set up a working group on devising development and operation models, and another on planning and construction of the proposed university town in Hung Shui Kiu (near Yuen Long) next year. Another site available will be in Ngau Tam Mei in 2028 which can dovetail with the overall I&T development of the San Tin Technopole and life and health technology industries. It will also be used for joint development with a third medical school and an integrated medical teaching and research hospital.
The overall project will be under a committee on development of the Northern Metropolis chaired personally by the CE while the two working groups will be led by the Financial Secretary, the Chief Secretary for Administration respectively. A third working group on planning and development will be led by the Deputy Financial Secretary.
He also plans to remove barriers and ease restrictions to streamline administrative procedures by introducing a fast track processing system and implementing a phased development approach. This will include pilot low-density facilities, such as retail, entertainment and convention and exhibition facilities to be developed initially to attract businesses, by bringing income to the area to create momentum before long-term development is rolled out.
Straddling the Shenzhen River (the boundary between Hong Kong and the mainland) is the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone comprising the Shenzhen Park and the Hong Kong Park. The two parks will promote collaboration in the development of I&T. Three buildings in the Hong Kong Park have been completed and tenants from life and health technology, microelectronics, new energy, AI and other pillar industries are gradually moving in.
Lee said that AI is the key driving force of a new round of scientific and technological revolution, as well as industrial transformation. “With our advantages in scientific research, capital, data and talent, together with abundant use cases, Hong Kong is poised to become a global hub for AI development,” he said.
The government has earmarked HK$1 billion for the establishment of the Hong Kong AI Research and Development (R&D) Institute in 2026, to facilitate upstream AI R&D. Earlier, the Government launched the $3 billion Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme which will help fund universities to attract international top-notch scientific researchers in AI.
Lee highlighted the many advantages of AI as well as its efforts to nurture local and attract overseas and Mainland AI professionals. These include setting up the AIR@InnoHK research cluster that has pooled over a thousand experts. And, combined with nearly a thousand AI companies that have gathered in our I&T parks, this helps enhance our AI R&D capabilities and lay the foundations for wide-ranging AI applications.
AI is everywhere in today’s modern world and to further enhance the efficacy of the Government, he has set up an AI Efficacy Enhancement Team to coordinate and steer government departments to apply AI technology effectively to their work and promote technological reform in departments to improve efficacy.
The CE’s address was long (two hours and 40-minutes) and very detailed but covered every aspect of life in Hong Kong. It was all good news and when all policies are implemented Hong Kong will maintain its position on the top rung of superlatives.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
As Hong Kong has been developing in leaps and bounds, so has its medical services increased to meet local demands.
And with planned new hospitals in the Northern Metropolis along with current expansion and construction development, expertise is expected to increase and the dreaded waiting times for patients will be considerably reduced.
Hong Kong is poised to be the medical centre of Asia.
Currently, Hong Kong has about 36,000 beds in 43 public hospitals and 14 private hospitals. And already they are overcrowded, aided undoubtedly by an increasing aging population. Patients have to wait up to two hours for a consultation in public hospitals and up to a year or more for onward specialised bookings for appointment.
But that is about to change. Opening on December 11 in Tseung Kwan O will be the 400-bed Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong run by the Baptist University under the umbrella of the Health Bureau of the government and not to be confused with the Hospital Authority which runs all public hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong.
This is a major breakthrough for Chinese medicine (CM) to be fully integrated with research into western-Chinese medicines while serving the community. It will be the flagship for the 18 Chinese medicine clinics already operating in all districts in Hong Kong.
In its first year of operation, it will provide only outpatient 25 beds and day-patient services and six specialised CM services – internal medicine, external medicine, gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics and traumatology, and acupuncture and moxibustion. It will also provide 12 special disease programs including those for elderly degenerative diseases and stroke rehabilitation.
Inpatient services will start from late next year, with other services expanding year by year, including the remaining 11 special disease programs. It is expected that by the end of 2030, the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 patient beds, as well as outpatient services of 400 000 annual attendances.
Construction is also well underway and above the foundations for the North District Hospital (NDH) extension in Sheung Shui. The expansion of NDH mainly covers the construction of a new hospital block, refurbishment, alteration and addition to existing hospital building, and the provision of associated internal roadworks as well as external and landscaping works. Upon completion of the expansion project in about 2028, the hospital will provide about 1,500 additional beds, atop of its 680 existing beds.
And then comes the mother of all hospitals: The Northern Metropolis Hospital in Ngau Tam Mei, south of Yuen Long, is developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis with about 3 000 beds, providing comprehensive healthcare services for the new population in the area.
Last year in his policy address, the Chief Executive John Lee announced plans for developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis, providing comprehensive healthcare services.
The area is a goldmine for development. Representing about one third of Hong Kong’s total land area, existing agricultural land and fishponds will be turned into a massive hub for international scientific and technical research and development.
In the First Hospital Development Plan, there are three projects in two clusters, including the expansion of North District Hospital, the redevelopment of Prince of Wales Hospital, and the extension of Operating Theatre Block for Tuen Mun Hospital. It is anticipated that a total of 1 950 additional beds and other hospital facilities will be provided by 2031 in the New Territories after the completion of the three projects, bringing the physical bed capacity in the east and west clusters in the New Territories to about 12 000 beds.
Most importantly on the backburner is a decision by the Chief Executive in Council (ExCo) last year that a site of about two hectares be reserved in the San Tin Technopole (between Yuen Long and Sheung Shui) for healthcare facilities “which may include private hospital use.”
A private hospital in the New Territories opens up many possibilities, including medical tourism.
The Chinese medical hospital will draw in many tourists from the mainland and Asia seeking medical help through traditional Chinese and western medicine methods. A tourism hospital situated along the Chinese boundary will boost tourism figures ten-fold.
A case in point is the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a classic example of how the private sector can benefit in healthcare. Founded in 1980, Bumrungrad International Hospital has been a global pioneer in providing world-class healthcare services and international patient support for nearly four decades. The hospital is an internationally accredited, multi-specialty hospital listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1989. It is, perhaps the largest private hospital in Southeast Asia, caring for more than 1.1 million patients annually from more than 190 countries.
