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Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho stressed the importance of Hong Kong to seize strategic opportunities in developing the Northern Metropolis, so as to improve comprehensive planning and enhance its overall competitiveness to collaborate with other cities in the Greater Bay Area.
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In her opening remarks at a property forum organized by Sing Tao News Corporation on Tuesday, Linn stated that the Northern Metropolis has seen satisfying results, with residents moving in the housing projects in the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North new development area; land supply in the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen NDA; and businesses launching in the Sandy Ridge and Loop Hong Kong Park.
With more than 340 hectares of innovation and technology land across the San Tin Technopole, the Loop, Lau Fau Shan Digital Technology Hub, and the Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster site, the industrial development plan of the Northern Metropolis is highly diversified, creating a cross-border collaborative innovation and technology corridor.
The Development Bureau and relevant policy bureaus are adopting innovative and diversified policy arrangements, including enacting exclusive legislation for the Northern Metropolis, introducing a zoned development model, facilitating on-site land exchange, and establishing industrial park companies, Linn stated.
The draft regulations have entered the review stage, and are expected to be passed by the end of this year.
The development leader added that diversified industries will be fostered through Tsim Bei Tsui and Sha Tau Kok Blue and Green Tourism and Conservation Circle.
Over the next five years, the Northern Metropolis is expected to provide 900 hectares of developed land, including 300 hectares of industrial land, and 70,000 housing units, according to Linn.
Director of Lands Maurice Loo Kam-wah noted that the Lands Department has launched diversified land grant models to adapt to the development of emerging industries, in order to drive investment, innovation, and employment.
Maurice Loo.
Loo cited the first development project in the Hung Shui Kiu/Hia Tsuen as an example, in which authorities adopted a two-envelope approach to implement the government's core “industry-led” approach.
He added that the Lands Department adopted a new "7+7+7" arrangement for government tenancies previously leased on short-term leases, under which the total lease term can reach up to 21 years, greatly increasing tenants’ certainty, extending investment payback period and providing flexibility for both the parties.
Planning Department Director Tom Yip Chi-kwai stated that the Planning Department will begin planning and engineering study on the Blue and Green Tourism and Conservation Circle by the end of this year; leverage the synergistic effect of the landscape while prioritizing conservation, and will also explore cross-border ecotourism development with Shenzhen.
Tom Yip.
Meanwhile, Yip added that shall the Northern Metropolis Development Bill be passed, non- conservation zones approval time will be streamlined from nine months to two months; and the temporary use period will be extended to seven years to allow businesses to conduct small-scale market testing and recoup initial investment.
