Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government officials and the city’s legislators on Thursday pledged to work together to accelerate and enhance the development of the Northern Metropolis, with the aim of better aligning the mega township project with national development.
They made their remarks after a joint visit to the Hong Kong park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, a core sci-tech project in the Northern Metropolis.
The delegation, including around 50 lawmakers and Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong, toured the park in the morning. They visited Building No 8 — one of two wet laboratory towers currently in operation — a substation built by CLP Group, and the talent apartment building, while engaging in discussions with enterprise representatives in the park.
Sun said the lawmakers offered many constructive suggestions during the visit, and the authorities are working on Hong Kong's first five-year plan to accelerate the development of the Hetao cooperation zone. He added that the executive and legislative branches have shown determination in jointly pushing forward the Northern Metropolis development in line with the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).
ALSO READ: HKSAR govt official: Hetao Park to pilot imports
He revealed that the remaining five buildings in the park’s first phase of development are expected to be completed by the end of this year, and the remaining undeveloped land sites under the initial development stage will also be offered to the market this year.
As for the three completed buildings in the Hong Kong park, Sun said the two wet laboratory buildings have onboarded 79 enterprises, with an occupancy rate of nearly 90 percent.
Describing the Hetao zone as the key project of the Northern Metropolis and a "representative work" of Hong Kong, Sun pledged that the government will “deliver a satisfactory outcome” by 2030 — the end of the five-year plan period.
Legislative Council (LegCo) President Starry Lee Wai-king said the Hetao zone’s Hong Kong park is at a stage of rapid development and serves as a “testing ground” for institutional innovation. She pledged that the legislature will continue to support the Northern Metropolis development, and that lawmakers will make good use of their findings from the visit when considering future funding applications and conducting legislation reviews, and will be well-positioned to put forward more practical and feasible suggestions.
"The visit is just the starting point; action is what matters," Lee said.
The visit was the LegCo’s second field trip to the new township, following their initial visit on March 26, when lawmakers and government officials visited the Hung Shui Kiu / Ha Tsuen New Development Area to learn about its ongoing progress.
