Hong Kong’s leader will exhaust all means, including leveraging legal, administrative and private sector efforts, to speed up development of the Northern Metropolis megaproject near the border with mainland China, the Post has learned.
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Measures being considered include setting up a company as a vehicle to attract industries more efficiently, adopting mainland construction standards and elevating the development’s decision-making process to a senior level, government sources have revealed ahead of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address on Wednesday.
The massive project, announced in 2021, aims to turn 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) of land into an engine for economic growth and a housing hub.
“The chief executive is expected to announce legal and administrative means to speed up the development. The government will also adopt an industry-led approach to attract mainland and overseas companies to gradually settle in the Northern Metropolis,” a source said.
Such moves would address the wishes of Beijing officials, who have grown impatient with the slow progress of the project over the past two years.
One measure being considered involved setting up a pilot company, which would act like an agent to attract interested parties and investors from an industry to develop their businesses in the Northern Metropolis and also manage the land in the area, another source said.