Nansha destined for significant role: Ian Fok

Business leader says his late father Henry Fok always recognized the tremendous potential of the area

Prominent Hong Kong businessman Ian Fok Chun-wan says the Nansha Bay development project in Guangzhou will play an important role in the future development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area development.

Fok, CEO of the Fok Ying Tung Group and a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress, said the group is exploring more innovative ideas with the Guangzhou government on developing the Nansha free trade zone. They will discuss the enormous potential it offers for the future development of healthcare, science and technology and elderly care services.

Ian Fok recalled that his late father, Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung, had long recognized the significance of developing Nansha.

"The development of Nansha has always been a leading priority for my family," Fok said, noting that his family is now anxious to see Nansha's development being accelerated after the release of the Bay Area blueprint.

As the largest national-level free trade zone in southern China, Nansha is well positioned to become a high-standard gateway for further opening-up. It can also become a key area for commercial applications of breakthroughs in innovation and technology in southern China, according to the newly released development outline for the Bay Area.

Talking to China Daily in Beijing in an exclusive interview during the annual two sessions, Fok stressed that his late father had long been committed to Nansha's development.

Nansha is a coastal district east of the Pearl River Estuary in southern Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. Fok envisages it becoming a new modern area operating with the cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong.

He recalled that his father Henry Fok had been investing in Nansha since the early 1990s. "At that time, my father already had the vision of a 'one-hour living circle'," Ian Fok recalled. Because there were no highways between Hong Kong and Nansha, Henry Fok invested in a ferry lane, his son remembered.

Nansha Bay today is a 22-square-kilometer comprehensive pilot zone within the Nansha free trade zone. It has research institutes, a ferry terminal and also education, residential and entertainment facilities.

The Fok Ying Tung Group is now having talks with relevant local authorities. The company is particularly keen that more Hong Kong professional services be introduced into Nansha, Fok said.

He hopes that the area in the Nansha Ferry Terminal which is not subject to mainland customs control can be expanded further. This means goods arriving from Hong Kong can become exempt from mainland customs clearance.

If this happens, medication which is not registered in the mainland can then be used in hospitals in Nansha. More advanced medical equipment can also be imported tax-free, Fok said.

Talents going there to work will also be exempt from mainland taxes. This could boost the development of modern healthcare in Nansha, he said.

"Nansha should be a pilot zone for innovative institutional arrangements in the Bay Area development process," Fok said. "Young people will be more comfortable exploring innovative ideas here as well," he ventured.

Fok said the Development and Reform Commission and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Guangdong has already provided positive feedback on such proposals; they are also studying their feasibility.

Meanwhile, a technology park in Nansha Bay, co-built by Fok Ying Tung Group and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, has been constructed. The park aims to promote cooperation between universities and industries across the Bay Area in order to obtain commercial applications for future scientific breakthroughs.

Fok said the science park is also in talks with the Hong Kong Science Park to help it expand its incubation center to Nansha due to a shortage of land in Hong Kong.

He is also examining future prospects for the Guangzhou South Station and its surrounding area. Now the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link has completed, and it takes less than an hour to travel from central Hong Kong to Guangzhou South.

Jiangmen in western Guangdong province also has the potential to be developed into an area specializing in elderly care and the training of health professionals. It has sufficient resources and a cheaper land supply than other places.

With transportation infrastructure changing the landscape of the Bay Area, Ian Fok believes the 11-city cluster will enjoy even greater development.

Same age as the Republic

Ian Fok will celebrate his 70th birthday this year - the "same age" as the People's Republic of China.

"We call a person 'elderly' if he is at the age of 70," Fok said. "But our country is at the height of a golden age."

Fok said he felt lucky to have followed his father's footsteps and to witness China's tremendous changes following 40 years of reform and opening-up.

"With the development of modern healthcare, I hope I am lucky to celebrate my 100th birthday. Then I can have a chance to witness an ever greater future for the country."

Chai Hua contributed to this story.

heshusi@chinadailyhk.com 

(HK Edition 03/13/2019 page4)