Opinion | Reinvigorating Hong Kong’s economy starts with embracing a global mindset once more
- Hong Kong’s ability to balance local values with global ideas, and its openness to anyone with a zeal for hard work and innovation, has brought the city prosperity
- This is the spirit in which the new government must go forward to reverse the outward flow of talent and restore the city’s global standing
Over centuries, Hong Kong has been built by people in transit, from British opium traders and colonial grandees to waves of Chinese migrants and expatriates. The small island has given outsiders access to rising Chinese wealth, skilfully cultivating its role as intermediary between East and West.
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For most of its modern history, Hong Kong has prided itself on being a cultural melting pot, where diverse groups coexist in harmony. Its dynamism and low tax regime provided strong incentive for foreigners to come here to work.
Beyond inspiring consumption, such cultural diversity offers the Goldilocks conditions for incubating innovative ideas. Ideas germinate more readily when people from various industries work in near proximity, while it is easier to recruit and retain talent when demands – from a vast market such as China – are nearby. That is the edge Hong Kong has over other places: its unparalleled transport infrastructure. Everything is just a stone’s throw away.
A deep talent pool is the first building block of a successful economy. Beijing’s Zhongguancun, dubbed China’s Silicon Valley, benefits from its contiguity to talent-breeding grounds such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. These elite clusters supply aspiring technologists and funding opportunities to new and old market entrants.
