Incentives needed to drive Greater Bay Area plan, Tencent chairman tells Hong Kong seminar
Pony Ma points to need for tax and immigration concessions to ensure Beijing’s master plan for Pearl River Delta can succeed
Business leaders and experts at a high-powered economic seminar have called for preferential policies and other incentives to create a world-class technology hub through the ambitious Greater Bay Area project to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province.
“The Bay Area can be the window for Chinese companies to go international, and for overseas companies to enter the mainland market, but the government must show its support,” Ma said.
In terms of attracting technology experts, if they have to pay mainland tax, that will be very inconvenient
“I hope the government can help to make it easier for people to go in and out of the area, perhaps issuing ‘green cards’ to facilitate the movement of technology experts,“ Ma said.
“Also, for tax purposes, I hope that people will not be restricted by a maximum stay of 180 days in China when they have to pay mainland tax. In terms of attracting technology experts, if they have to pay mainland tax, that will be very inconvenient.”
The mainland’s personal income tax rate is capped at 45 per cent, compared with 15 per cent in Hong Kong.
“The Greater Bay Area already holds several good cards for developing technology. They are software, hardware and service,” Ma said, citing a long list of successful companies including drone maker DJI, smartphone manufacturer Huawei and Tencent itself.
