In December, Dr. Jonathan Choi initiated the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union (the Union) and served as founding chairman of the Union.
The inauguration ceremony was officiated by Mr. Leung Chun Ying, Vice-chairman of the CPPCC National Committee on 18 December. The Union gathered more than 200 business entrepreneurs representing various sectors including innovation and technology, financial services, transportation and logistics. Key officials of the Union also includedChairmen of the six leading chambers of commerce in Hong Kong, Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and business leaders of the Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland.
In July 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission and the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao signed the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), which comprised the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in the Guangdong Province. The objectives were to further deepen cooperation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, fully leverage the composite advantages of the three places, facilitate in-depth integration within the region, and promote coordinated regional economic development, with a view to developing an international first-class bay area ideal for living, working and travelling.
Hong Kong plays an important role in the Greater Bay Area Development in the areas of international finances, transport and logistics, trading hub and professional services. On the one hand, Hong Kong will facilitate and support the economic development of the region, with a view to enhancing the role and functions of the Greater Bay Area in the country's two-way opening up; on the other hand, it will facilitate the development of industries in which Hong Kong's strengths lie in the Greater Bay Area, capitalizing on Hong Kong's strengths to serve the country's needs.
