CE’s policy address is a blueprint for the future

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

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Hong Kong has done it again. It is first in Asia and fourth in the world in the World Talent Rankings by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Not only is Hong Kong a key player in the world’s leading innovation cluster, but the city is also shooting up the charts as a global hub for top talent.

Since 2016 Switzerland has continually secured the top spot while second this year was Luxembourg, followed by Iceland third, Hong Kong fourth and Singapore in seventh place.

In global rankings, Hong Kong came first in graduates in science, fifth in the female labour force participation, third in the availability of finance skills and fifth in the effectiveness of management education, the key parameters used to allocate the rankings.

An interesting aspect in the IMD report was that the judiciary was ranked seventh in the world for being “fairly administrated.” In the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong remained unchanged as it continued to rank sixth in the East Asia and Pacific region and came 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally. The US came 26th. This is one aspect which critics should note, especially in the coming months when a number of high-profile national security cases come to court.

However, it was not all roses. Hong Kong reached its lowest ranking position in the cost-of-living index (66th). Also, further improvement could be undertaken in the quality of primary and secondary education, as measured by the pupil-teacher ratio (both ranked 19th).

Although primary and secondary education was rated rather low compared to other countries, it is an area which the Government is focussing close attention. In last year’s policy address the Chief Executive (CE) John Lee said the Government’s recurrent expenditure on education was on the rise, totalling $106.8 billion in 2024-25, an increase of nearly 50 per cent over expenditure 10 years ago. This is about 3.9 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product, which the Financial Secretary may consider improving in next year’s budget.

However, Hong Kong is doing well in tertiary education where it received top marks both locally and globally for graduates in sciences. The city boasts five of the world's top 100 universities with outstanding research talent, making it an international hub for exchanges and collaboration among high-calibre talent. This is to be further enriched with the Northern Metropolis University in the coming years. And this is where the city is providing a career for top talents with facilities available at the Cyberport and Science Park.

In fact, the CE made this a key topic in last year’s policy address with a chapter titled “Build Hong Kong into an International Hub for High-calibre Talents” and it is likely it will remain a key topic in this year’s address on September 17. He is expected to give updates on the establishment of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, to co-ordinate and drive the integrated development of education, technology and talent. It will also formulate policies to attract and cultivate talent, foster the development of technologies, as well as promoting Hong Kong as an international hub for high-calibre talent.

By the end of August, more than 520 000 applications were received under various talent admission schemes, with some 350 000 applications approved.

The IMD report follows hot on the heels of The World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 top 100 innovation clusters published on September 1, in which the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster came first in the world for the first time.

This reflects the high international recognition of the I&T capacity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, indicating that it is an ideal place for global innovation and technology (I&T) talent to develop and grow their careers.

The GII captures the entrepreneurial activity and innovation finance within the clusters by emphasizing start-ups and spin-offs. Together, the metrics reveal those areas where there is a high concentration of inventors, scientific authors, and venture capital activity.

Investing in education has proved to be the answer for tomorrow’s world where innovation and technology is the key to development led by the Generation Z, those born in the era of the internet, smart phones and modern technology.