Chief Executive Li Jiachao released his first “Policy Address”. On the housing issue that the public is most concerned about, shorten the time for building land and housing, and propose to cap the waiting time for public housing at six years, and then reduce it to four and a half years. In the future development of Hong Kong, it is proposed to grab talents, engage in business, and strive for innovation. Hong Kong is starting to feel moving.
In the past, the SAR government had the concept of “big market, small government”, which has gradually become a sacrosanct principle and an excuse for the government’s inaction. Compared with Singapore and even neighboring cities, Hong Kong has become passive.
This kind of passive and loose thinking has also spread to other policy areas. Even if the housing issue that the public is very concerned about, the policy is virtual. As soon as the previous government took office, the housing policy became “home ownership-led”, but there was no increase in land for private housing construction. During the term of office, it seems that the supply of public housing will be increased, and the ratio of public and private housing will be changed from six to four to seven to three.
This “Policy Address” has begun to see changes. First, be proactive. In the past, when senior executives of multinational corporations talked about the comparison between Hong Kong and Singapore, the general impression was that Singapore took the initiative to grab business and talent. However, Hong Kong is very passive, and it is just a general introduction and promotion. But this time, we will take the initiative, such as setting up the “Introduction of Key Enterprises Office” to introduce key enterprises to Hong Kong in a targeted manner. For example, the establishment of a “talent service window” attracts at least 35,000 talents every year. A new “High-end Talent Passport Scheme” has also been established to attract high-paying talents or graduates of the world’s top 100 universities to develop in Hong Kong, with a series of supporting measures. The government’s strategy of robbing enterprises to attract talents this time has a strong sense of taking the initiative. Second, break the rules. In the past, the government did a lot of things in a forward-looking manner. For example, it didn’t want to import labor, lead investment, invest directly, and many other things… but competitors wanted to do everything. Hong Kong has the advantage of connecting with the country, but it lags behind its rivals.
However, in this “Policy Address”, many things that we didn’t want to do in the past have begun to be done, such as importing skilled labor, thirteen shortage items on the talent list, or employees with an annual salary of more than 2 million. That way, to prove that there is difficulty in recruiting, you can enter. Another example is the establishment of a “Hong Kong Investment Management Company” to make good use of financial reserves to invest and promote industrial development, which is a bit like the Hong Kong version of “Temasek”. Another example is the establishment of a “co-investment fund” with 30 billion yuan to invest in companies located in Hong Kong. Competitors have already made these active investments by the government, but Hong Kong was reluctant to do so in the past.
Third, the indicators are clear. The Chief Executive’s words are to “target results” and set 110 KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Civil servants will be terminated if they perform poorly. This is a good start. In terms of specific policies, the waiting time for public housing is set to be capped at six years, and then gradually reduced to four and a half years in four years. This is very specific, and citizens can use this to supervise the government. The government proposes to build an additional 30,000 “simple public housing” units within five years, so that citizens who are waiting for public housing can move in first. This is a specific method to shorten the waiting time for public housing. It is estimated that the construction of simple public housing together with traditional public housing will increase the total number of public housing units in the next five years by 50% compared with the previous five-year period.
Another example is to set up an “Industry-University-Research + Program” with 10 billion yuan, subsidizing at least 100 innovation and technology teams in local universities, to implement their innovation and technology achievements within three years, and commercialize the results in the next two years. In the past, there have been funding plans of one kind or another, but they will not be detailed to the point of “at least 100 teams” and “what goals to achieve in three or five years”.
The new “Policy Address” gives people the feeling that the “government is moving”, and it is a government that has deployed unprecedented power to engage in innovation and technology. It is no longer a government that offers welfare to please the public, but a government that finds a way out for Hong Kong’s development. . Of course, take courage and be careful not to make mistakes. It is more difficult to achieve clear indicators. But the government has finally taken the first step, hoping that Hong Kong can take a new path.
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Lu Yongxiong