Hello. I'm Mike, a lawyer living in Hong Kong.
I'm going to write about Hong Kong. About the bright lights of Hong Kong.
When I live in Hong Kong, my friends and business associates in Japan ask me
"Is your life okay?"
"Are you still able to work?"
"Shouldn't you go back to Japan as soon as possible?"
With the violent demonstrations that began around 2019 and the National Security Law that was enacted afterwards, it seems that from a Japanese perspective, Hong Kong is not a very good place to continue working.
It's different, isn't it?
The gap between the impression I get from living in Hong Kong and the impression I get from my friends in Japan is so big that I've been correcting myself every time, but there's no end to it, so I'll write about it here. Why do I not think about leaving Hong Kong even for a second? Of course, there are many negatives. Of course, there are many negative things, which I have already told you enough, so I won't dare to mention them here.
In a word, I am "excited about the future of Hong Kong".
For a while now, I've been friends with some Hong Kong businessmen who are based at the Hong Kong Science Park. Thanks to them, I've been able to go to the Science Park for meetings, visit their offices and learn how it works, which is pretty cool.
Science Park is an incubation centre strongly backed by the Hong Kong government, which attracts researchers and startups in the bio-medical and robotics hardware fields. Hong Kong also has another incubation centre called Cyberport, which, as the name suggests, attracts cyber start-ups in fintech, AI, blockchain, etc.
What impresses me about both institutions is the generosity of their human and material support, the fact that they are open to the world and welcome the best researchers and entrepreneurs from abroad (and of course from Japan), and the fact that the whole process is very fast and, if the start-up is successful, they will help you develop your business. You have to have an office in the Science Park, but if you're developing a promising new technology, the office rent is subsidised and almost free, and they will introduce you to researchers from various universities in Hong Kong, and if you hire someone, they will give you a substantial remuneration package. Best of all, you'll be surrounded by like-minded researchers and entrepreneurs chatting and eating together on a daily basis (not to mention restaurants, cafes, swimming pools and gyms), and you'll be able to discuss business and capital partnerships and exchange information while working out in the gym.
Shenzhen is a good example.
When I visited Shenzhen several years ago, I was given a tour of an incubation center near Tencent's headquarters and was told that entrepreneurs from all over the world were gathering there to create new technologies every day because of the generous human and material support provided.
I experienced firsthand the vitality of Shenzhen, and now I feel that same vitality in the Science Park.
In 1980, Shenzhen was a regional city with a population of about 300,000, but since it was designated as a special economic zone, it has attracted talented and motivated young people from China and around the world, and in just 40 years has become a city of 14 million people, surpassing even Tokyo. In 40 years, its GDP has increased 10,000 times (2.7 trillion yuan), and it now has a GDP that surpasses even Hong Kong's (although Hong Kong's GDP has also increased 20 times in the meantime). It is a natural consequence that Huawei, Tencent, BYD, and DJI were born here.
Now China wants to combine the success of Shenzhen with Hong Kong's cosmopolitan capabilities in the Greater Bay Area initiative to create a chemical reaction. Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong Province (including Shenzhen) are to be positioned as a single special economic zone for further development. Hong Kong's position is no longer just a special administrative region or financial gateway to China. Hong Kong's position is no longer just a special administrative region or financial gateway to China, it is the centre of a large special economic zone that will expand beyond the size of Shenzhen and Hong Kong alone.
How could I possibly run away from such a fun place as Hong Kong?
