The "Greater Bay Area" (GBA) refers to the Chinese Government's scheme to link Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions and cities of Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta to become an integrated economy and business hub. The GBA has also been compared with the bay areas of New York, San Francisco (Silicon Valley) and Tokyo. The plan calls for Hong Kong to become an innovation and technology hub.

According to South Morning China Morning Post (SCMP), in terms of the infrastructure and human capital development, Hong Kong is lagging behind other cities in the region. Since February 2017, the Hong Kong Government has made considerable investments in several projects to develop Hong Kong into a ‘smart city’. In March 2018, the Government unveiled an additional HKD 50 billion (GBP4.85 billion) to stimulate innovation in the areas of Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Smart Cities and Fintech.

However, as per a report from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Public Policy, researchers warn that the city risks becoming marginalised as rivals outspend it when it comes to innovation and technology development. They urged the Government to play a more proactive role to connect HK institutions with other institutions in the GBA as well as to narrow the gap between university research and product development. 

Commentary by Karen Hsu, Education Services Manager , Hong Kong

Hong Kong has long been a major financial and professional services centre, however faces a need to diversify in order to maintain competitiveness. The city has potential to utilise its expertise in international financial, trade, shipping as well as well-established common law regime to help counterpart cities in GBA to connect to the world. However, investment in R&D in Hong Kong has historically been low. The government is now therefore increasingly investing in innovation and technology.

As a result of GBA and increased investment, opportunities may arise for interdisciplinary research collaboration, sharing of UK expertise on demonstrating research impact (for funding applications), student demand for STEM subjects and demand from employers for graduates; teacher training of STEM education (at primary and secondary level). The British Council will be investigating opportunities for tripartite research collaboration between Hong Kong, Guangdong and UK universities and will keep the sector updated.

Sources:
Hong Kong Government - Greater Bay Area

SCMP:

• China’s ‘Greater Bay Area’ integration scheme
• Hong Kong’s Science Park to take the lead on driving innovation and technology as it receives major cash injection
• Universities warn that Hong Kong must ‘innovate or die’ amid growing economic challenges from Greater Bay Area cities