​Following is the video speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the Greater Bay Area Conference 2022 and the 25th Anniversary Ceremony of China Daily Hong Kong Edition today (October 6):
      
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
      
     It gives me great pleasure to virtually join the Greater Bay Area Conference 2022 and the 25th Anniversary Ceremony of China Daily Hong Kong Edition.
      
     I would like to begin by wishing China Daily Hong Kong Edition a very happy birthday, and congratulate you on your remarkable achievements of providing authoritative news coverage and insightful analyses to your readers in the past quarter century.
      
     Hong Kong returned to the motherland in the same year as the establishment of China Daily Hong Kong Edition. This year not only marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR, it is also a new start, a new chapter for us with the beginning of the sixth-term SAR Government.
      
     Since our return to the motherland, Hong Kong has been blessed with the unique institutional strength provided under the "one country, two systems" principle and the steadfast support of the country. In his important speech delivered in Hong Kong on July 1, President Xi Jinping reiterated the Central Government's full support for Hong Kong to maintain its distinctive status and advantages, to seize the historic opportunities offered by the country's development, and to actively dovetail itself with the National 14th Five-Year Plan and other national strategies such as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
      
     As one of the core cities of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong will leverage our highly market-oriented and internationalised business environment, our well-developed professional service sectors, as well as our status as an international financial, trade and shipping centre to join hands with the other Greater Bay Area cities in developing a world-class city cluster for living, travelling and working.  
      
     As the world's freest economy and the largest offshore Renminbi business centre, Hong Kong is the ideal gateway to connect international investors with the Mainland on the one hand and help channel Mainland funds to the global market on the other. The cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme launched last year, and the recently promulgated 18 measures for supporting Hong Kong venture capital investments in Qianhai of Shenzhen, are good examples of innovative financial policy initiatives under the Greater Bay Area development.
      
     On innovation and technology, Hong Kong and Shenzhen are teaming up to take forward the development of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Cooperation Zone, by giving full play to our respective strengths in basic scientific research and advanced manufacturing. The proposed development of the San Tin Technopole in the Northern Metropolis will significantly increase the supply of land for innovation and technology uses. In addition to building the necessary infrastructure, Hong Kong and Shenzhen have launched a joint policy package to attract talents and enterprises around the world. This will facilitate our participation in the development of a world-class innovation and technology hub in the Greater Bay Area.
      
     Culture is another area with great potential for collaboration. The 14th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong's development into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. With the state-of-the-art facilities opened in the West Kowloon Cultural District such as the Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+, as well as those in the pipeline, we endeavour to establish the District as the cultural hub of the Greater Bay Area and our country's premier venue for exhibiting cultural relics and artworks.
      
     The above are just a few examples of the initiatives we have embarked on to contribute to the development of the Greater Bay Area. I am confident that, as Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities continue to collaborate closely and complement one another, there is much more we can achieve that will bring about enormous opportunities for our people, our businesses and our communities. Together, we can write a new chapter with a promising future for the Greater Bay Area. And with this new chapter, we will be able to tell the good stories of the Greater Bay Area in the global arena.
      
     Last but not least, I would like to thank China Daily and Hong Kong Coalition for organising this Conference for political and business leaders, as well as members of the academic community, to share their insights on the important subject of Greater Bay Area development.
      
     I wish the Conference every success and all participants a rewarding day. Thank you.      

Ends/Thursday, October 6, 2022
Issued at HKT 10:09

NNNN