On 19 October, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, delivered his maiden Policy Address. Amidst a plethora of global challenges, including the pandemic, high inflation, interest rate hikes, tightening monetary policies, trade disputes and geopolitical tensions, the Chief Executive outlined in his first Policy Address his governing beliefs and visions for Hong Kong, and announced a series of bold measures that aim at improving Hong Kong’s competitiveness, reinforcing its role as a global business and financial hub and attracting more overseas talents and enterprises, while underscoring the need to strengthen national security.

In his Policy Address, Mr Lee emphasised on the need to build a solid foundation for security while upholding the principle and leveraging the advantages of “One Country, Two Systems”. “It is the best institutional safeguard for the long‑term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong”, as the Chief Executive described it. He stressed that reinforcement of the core value of the rule of law is a top priority, and that the Government will safeguard independent judicial power with a view to enhancing public confidence in our rule of law.

The Chief Executive further outlined the Government’s strategies to compete for enterprises and talents to strengthen the city’s competitiveness. Mr Lee’s initiatives include setting up the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) to attract high-potential and representative companies from strategic industries from around the globe, introducing the Top Talent Pass Scheme to widely entice talents to pursue their careers in Hong Kong, as well as enhancing existing talent admission schemes. “Hong Kong has advanced infrastructure in both hardware and software, a sound legal system and top-notch talents from all over the world,” Mr Lee said. Furthermore, the Government will set aside HK$30 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) from the Future Fund to establish the Co-Investment Fund for attracting enterprises to set up operations in Hong Kong and investing in their businesses. The Government will also allow eligible incoming talents to, upon becoming permanent residents, apply for a refund of the extra stamp duty paid for purchasing residential property in Hong Kong.

Attracting talents from all over the world goes hand in hand with another new initiative to unleash Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T) potential, which provides key impetus for Hong Kong’s high-quality economic development. The Chief Executive announced that “to chart Hong Kong in moving full steam towards our vision of an international I&T centre, the Government will promulgate the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint within this year to set out major policies under four broad development directions.” The four key areas include enhancing the city’s I&T ecosystem, enlarging the pool of local and non-local I&T talents, developing Hong Kong into a smart city, and proactively integrating into the overall national development. The Government will also earmark HK$10 billion (EUR 1.14 billion) to launch a “Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One‑plus Scheme” next year.

Mr Lee summed up that “[i]n the next five years, I will lead the government team to unite and motivate all sectors of the community, and give full play to our fine traditions of inclusiveness, unity and respect for different viewpoints. We will make our best endeavour, all for better serving our people and better developing Hong Kong, so that the Pearl of the Orient will shine brighter than ever.”

Full details of the Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address can be found here.