Chapter 515 Economic Development Meeting
Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose nodded in approval and said:
“China today is not like it was a hundred years ago, when our country could march straight into the country with a few cannons and do whatever it wanted.
Now, we are afraid that they will not abide by the spirit of the contract, so we call us in advance. These foreign merchants who have been in Hong Kong for a long time always fail to recognize the reality. In the future, commercial competition in Hong Kong will be left to the merchants themselves to deal with. The most we can do is to give them a bottom line so that they don't mess up. We can also give an explanation in China.
In the future, they will have to play their own role in competition within the scope of business rules.
We won’t care about the rest.
Well, Mr. Xia Dingji, you have a lot of experience in economic development, please tell me your suggestions. "
"Okay, Mr. Governor, first let's talk about the construction of clean government. Since our Hong Kong government established the Independent Commission Against Corruption last year, it has cracked down on corruption and created a good business environment and social atmosphere.
It has enhanced the confidence of global investors and provided a guarantee for the long-term stable development of Hong Kong's economy.
Secondly, we set up a Housing Authority and announced the "Ten-Year Housing Plan", which aimed to build new public housing units for 1.8 million people within 10 years, which aroused enthusiastic support from the grassroots Hong Kong citizens.
In addition, our Hong Kong government is now vigorously developing the New Territories, which has relieved the huge pressure on the crowded Hong Kong urban area. However, the New Territories are still sparsely populated, and our Hong Kong government still has a large amount of land. So I personally suggest that our Hong Kong government can set up a "New Territories Development Agency"
It will encourage the capital of Hong Kong's wealthy people to vigorously purchase land in the New Territories, develop the New Territories, and build a new economic center. It will also be easier for the Hong Kong government to sell land and more convenient for us to collect funds and transfer them back to the country.
In addition, since our "Ten Years of Housing Construction" has received enthusiastic support from the society, we'd better issue a specific occupancy clause to solve the housing problem for Hong Kong's lower-class citizens and low-income families.
I think the name of the program, "Home Ownership for All," is good.
Also, as Hong Kong's urban area becomes larger and larger, we in Hong Kong need to vigorously build fast public transportation such as the subway. On the one hand, it will enable our Hong Kong government to better manage Hong Kong, and on the other hand, it will enable us to better develop the economy.
Finally, there is the issue of education. With the rapid development of global industrialization,
Global companies have increasingly higher requirements for employment. Hong Kong wants to transform its labor-intensive industries into technology-intensive industries, increase its share of global foreign trade, and diversify its development. The free education we have now is not enough.
I personally suggest that we implement a nine-year compulsory education system in Hong Kong. Although we have achieved free education for all primary schools, the educational level is too low.
If we cannot train a large number of talents and improve the quality of the workforce, we’d better increase the free education to junior high school and implement nine years of free education, so that the citizens of Hong Kong can accept the idea of loyalty to the Queen from an early age, providing strong human support for Hong Kong’s economic development.
That is all I have to say, Mr Governor."
After listening to what Haddon-kee said, the Governor thought about it carefully and then spoke again: "Mr. Haddon-kee proposed infrastructure construction, industrial transformation and upgrading, development of the New Territories, the "Home Ownership" plan, and the education plan.
Let’s discuss it and see what you think.”
Chief Secretary Chung Yat-kit was the first to speak: "Governor, although our Hong Kong government is rich now,
But we have to pay tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars to the mainland every year.
These are basically paid for using the Hong Kong government's fiscal surplus, and now the expectations of Hong Kong on the mainland are getting higher and higher, so I don't agree with the implementation of nine years of free education in Hong Kong."
Xia Dingji looked at Zhong Yijie angrily and started to spit out:
"If you don't understand economics, don't make irresponsible remarks. Hong Kong's economic development has reached a bottleneck.
In the future, Hong Kong will not be able to achieve greater development in the market competition by relying solely on cheap labor. Improving Hong Kong's talent development, upgrading Hong Kong's industry, and strengthening Hong Kong's foreign trade economy are things we urgently need to do.
Zhong Yijie, as the director of the Chief Secretary, you also know that the requirements of the mainland are getting higher and higher. Every year, they are trying to increase the amount of funds we pay to the mainland.
So I suggest you take a long-term view and don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, or we will all suffer.”
Seeing this, MacLehose could only interrupt the quarrel between the two and said:
"Okay, okay,
You two are already big shots in Hong Kong, and you are both working for the economic development of Hong Kong. Why are you arguing with each other?
Mr. Xia Dingji, I personally think your suggestion makes a lot of sense.
However, the practical problems mentioned by Mr. Zhong Yijie are also problems that we cannot avoid.
We have many government projects to implement now, such as the Ten-Year Housing Plan and the subway construction plan.
For example, if we want to develop the New Territories and sell land to earn money, we also need to invest in infrastructure construction.
So, Mr. Xia Dingji, we need to provide free education and improve the quality of human resources, but we can't rush it. We should give priority to other plans that can quickly recover funds, and then implement the free education plan.
What do you think? "
The Governor had already made the decision, so what else could Haddon-kee do? After all, as politicians, MacLehose and Haddon-kee still had a sense of social responsibility, and they also had a vision and methods for economic development.
So, Ha Dingji nodded to MacLehose and said:
"Okay, Mr. Governor, I have no objection to your arrangement."
Seeing this, Zhong Yijie also smiled and said to MacLehose: "Mr. Governor, you are very wise. I have no objection to your arrangement."
"Okay, as long as everyone has no objection, this is settled.
Come on, let the others continue talking."
At this time, the Secretary for Justice, John Hobley, immediately said: "Governor, as our Ten-Year Housing Plan progresses,
Citizens are increasingly concerned about how to determine the low-cost housing provided by the Hong Kong government, so I think the "Home Ownership" program is urgent, and our Hong Kong government must also announce the standards for obtaining low-cost housing to the general public as soon as possible. "
"Well, what Mr. John said makes a lot of sense.
Let me say this: I will leave it to the Department of Justice to formulate the rules regarding the standards for obtaining affordable housing under the "Home Ownership" program.
I have only one request, that is, the standards set by the Department of Justice should be truly accessible to low-income citizens.
Solve the housing problems of the lower-class citizens and provide impetus for the sustainable development of Hong Kong's economy.
After the Department of Justice has formulated the access standards, we will have a meeting to finalize them. What do you think? "
(End of this chapter)
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