‘Interested, but profits matter too’: Hong Kong developers react to Beijing’s North Metropolis call

Profit will determine whether a high-profile pledge of support by business heavyweights for Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis megaproject near the mainland China border will result in investment, according to economists and a developers’ representative.

Some also said the pledge was only a gesture intended to prevent offending Beijing and the Hong Kong government.

Stewart Leung Chi-kin, chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, told the Post that property developers in the city were “generally interested” in the project.

“But to join or not depends on whether profits could be yielded. After all, we are developers, we do business, not pure charity,” he said, adding the “one country, two systems” governing principle had guaranteed that no top-down instruction would be placed on developers to discharge their social responsibilities.

He also noted that there were many ways for developers to discharge their social responsibilities and that they were not limited to taking part in the megaproject’s land bidding process.

At a ceremony on Friday, 85 leaders of local, mainland and overseas enterprises pledged to support and participate in the Northern Metropolis plan.