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Hong Kong’s Paul Chan brushes aside concerns of public funding drain by Lantau Tomorrow, Northern Metropolis megaprojects
- Hong Kong’s finance chief describes megaprojects in northern New Territories, waters off Lantau Island as key to economic growth, housing supply boost
- ‘The government’s determination to increase land supply will not waver because of short-term market fluctuations,’ Chan adds
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Hong Kong’s finance chief has brushed aside concerns over the impact of two multibillion-dollar megaprojects on the public coffers amid a faltering global economy.
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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday described the Lantau Tomorrow Vision and Northern Metropolis schemes as “the golden key” to economic development and boosting the housing supply.
“[The two projects] are entirely financially viable,” Chan said. “The government’s determination to increase land supply will not waver because of short-term market fluctuations.”
Chan told an economic forum, jointly organised by the think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation and the Development Bureau, that many business corporations and financial institutions had expressed confidence in the projects, even amid a recent period of high interest rates and a weak property market.
The forum touched on the Kau Yi Chau project, part of the Lantau Tomorrow Vision scheme, that aims to reclaim 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) to create three artificial islands for housing and a third central business district at an estimated construction cost of HK$580 billion (US$74 billion) and expected financial returns of HK$750 billion.
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