PolyU PReCIT submits 2024 Policy Address Recommendations; Focusing on four key themes for Hong Kong’s sustainable development

The Policy Research Centre for Innovation and Technology (PReCIT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has submitted its recommendations to the HKSAR government for the 2024 Policy Address. The recommendations cover four major themes: Carbon Neutral Cities, Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Innovation and Technology (I&T) Development, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Life and Health Technology. PolyU held an event today to introduce the recommendations and invited Legislative Council members the Hon Duncan CHIU and the Hon TANG Fei to share their insights.

In his welcoming remarks, Prof. Wing-tak WONG, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU, said, “This is the third year that PolyU has submitted policy recommendations to the HKSAR government. Over the past two years, our suggestions have been highly valued and adopted by the government. This is not only an affirmation of our work but also encourages us to continue to make positive and proactive contributions to society.”

Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Director of PReCIT, gave an overview of the recommendations and said, “Our recommendations are structured around four key themes. Each theme is carefully chosen to address both current challenges and future opportunities, ensuring that Hong Kong continues to thrive in an ever-evolving global landscape.”

Prof. Eric CHUI, Co-Director of PReCIT and Head of Department of Applied Social Sciences, moderated the discussion session. He said, “By focusing on these critical areas, we aim to support the government’s efforts in fostering innovation, enhancing connectivity, and improving the quality of life for all residents.”

Key recommendations include:

1. Implementing Comprehensive Carbon Auditing and Building Carbon Neutral Cities

Hong Kong’s carbon emissions mainly come from the electricity generation sector, transportation, and waste. To achieve carbon neutrality, PReCIT recommends that the government implement comprehensive carbon auditing measures to accurately track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all sectors of the economy and establish similar emissions reporting requirements for companies and organisations above a certain size threshold, ensuring comprehensive coverage of Hong Kong’s carbon footprint. The government can develop a centralised, publicly accessible platform to report and track Hong Kong’s GHG emissions data over time, to address the need for improved transparency.

In addition, PReCIT encourages the government to support the development of new technologies, such as green hydrogen energy and waste-based biomass power generation, and to promote the construction of related infrastructure. The government can promote the development of green hydrogen energy by enterprises and research institutions through incentives such as tax incentives, research and development grants, and low-interest loans.

2. Strengthening I&T Collaboration in GBA; Developing a Smart Northern Metropolis

The HKSAR government can formulate strategies to facilitate the integration of transitional housing residents into the community and provide community-oriented social services. The Northern Metropolis can take reference from Shenzhen’s experience in the low-altitude economy (LAE), establishing the San Tin Technopole as a central innovation hub to foster collaborations with the Shenzhen I&T Park and advance the construction of a GBA Smart City Cluster.

Furthermore, Hong Kong needs to continue to refine its laws and regulations related to the LAE, establish an inter-departmental working unit for the efficient supervision of LAE development, and build R&D centres focusing on low-altitude transportation technologies to advance research in this area. At the same time, Hong Kong is recommended to establish a unified financial standards system, promote the application of a Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), and enhance the security and international competitiveness of financial transactions.

3. Promoting Belt and Road (B&R) Collaboration and Retaining Talent

PReCIT recommends that the government considers allocating funds and/or creates platforms that are conducive to knowledge exchange, cooperative research, and public-private partnerships (PPPs) between B&R partners and experts from Hong Kong and the GBA. In addition, the government should assume a leading role in establishing a BRI government-industry-academia-research consortium. Other specific recommendations include: increasing the number of Belt and Road scholarships and encouraging graduates to work in Hong Kong; supporting Hong Kong institutions to set up joint student training centres overseas; striving to include Hong Kong in the China Scholarship Council Scholarship Programmes; deepening cooperation among universities in Hong Kong and the Mainland and encouraging joint training programmes; and expanding the “Strive and Rise Programme” from Hong Kong to Belt and Road countries to help address intergenerational poverty.

4. Enhancing Healthcare to Address an Ageing Population and Chronic Diseases

Facing the challenges of an ageing population and chronic diseases, Hong Kong needs to strengthen primary healthcare. PReCIT suggests establishing a nutritionist registration system and subsidising community nutrition services. At the same time, it is recommended to establish a “Greater Bay Area Future Food Research Institute” to promote the sustainable development of the food industry. To incorporate traditional Chinese medicine into mainstream healthcare, it is necessary to strengthen its basic research and clinical applications and formulate relevant norms.

It is recommended to leverage the advantages of local universities in research and education across various healthcare disciplines to accelerate the cultivation of high-quality talent in the healthcare field and expand Hong Kong’s medical talent pool. Additionally, it is recommended to strengthen exchanges and cooperation of clinical medical talent and medical industry technology innovation talent with the Mainland (especially the GBA) at multiple levels, including health departments, hospitals, and social organisations.

In addition, in order to leverage new technologies to empower the “Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trials Institute”, PReCIT suggests combining big data and artificial intelligence technologies in the medical field, and developing telemedicine platforms to provide remote diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and patient monitoring. It is also recommended to integrate and anonymise relevant data to establish a medical research database, which is open for further analysis by universities and research institutions.

Simultaneously, it is recommended to discuss with various stakeholders the establishment of a scientifically comprehensive full-process drug regulatory mechanism, and further improve the adequacy and efficiency of the drug approval and regulatory system. Promoting the cooperation of trial sites with the GBA and nationwide to build a regional clinical trial coordination platform is also suggested. These measures will also accelerate the clinical application of new drugs and devices, driving the development of Hong Kong as a regional pharmaceutical research and production base.

Composed of academics from different disciplines and professions, PReCIT promotes interdisciplinary policy research and strives to become a leading I&T think tank in Hong Kong and the region. For the full text of the recommendation report, please visit:

https://www.polyu.edu.hk/precit/research/publications/

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