10 | Monday, April 29, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY COMMENT HK Dean Stallard ‘One country, two Innovative solutions needed for Bay Area talent shortage he opening of the Hong Kong- to o set higher tax rates for talents from Hong systems’ still vibrant Macao-Zhuhai Bridge last Septem- Kong working on the mainland. Subsidies ber was a memorable event and a overcome the higher income tax rates on key step forward in the development the mainland vis-a-vis Hong Kong. Overseas Tof the Pearl River Delta region. The bridge high-end talents and professionals in short has improved the fl ow of goods between all supply will receive subsidies from Guangdong ports. It’s also proving a tourism boom on province and the Shenzhen city to o set the despite the detractors both sides of the boundary. di erential. Not long after the bridge opened, the central While the government is helping, com- government authorities unveiled the outline panies will need to review their pay scales. Grenville Cross condemns some overseas critics of HK, plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Employers internationally o er higher sala- Greater Bay Area development. The goal is to ries, on average, compared with similar roles saying they are downplaying the positive aspects of life develop the region into a model of high-quality on the mainland. development, an infl uential global innovation Second, policies are being introduced to here, exaggerating problems and peddling half-truths and technology hub and an internationally encourage the freer fl ow of people across competitive fi rst-class city cluster. the region. That will ease the visa and travel f their criticisms are justi- tection of the rights and freedoms of oth- To achieve these goals, having a good supply concerns for multinational employees, and fi ed, it is concerning when ers”, which is precisely why the HKNP had of talents is the key. However, the development provide more cross-regional opportunities for foreign parliamentarians fi nd to be proscribed. of the Bay Area is outpacing the supply of tal- skilled employees willing to embrace a pan-Bay fault with Hong Kong. When, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu ents, making innovative approaches to recruit- Area perspective. Senior executives in the tech however, their assessments studied the evidence and found that, quite ment and retaining skilled workers a top prior- sector can live in Hong Kong or Macao and are not soundly based, those apart from whipping up hatred against ity across sectors and companies. work in southern mainland cities, or vice versa. concerns diminish. The reports Grenville Cross mainlanders, the HKNP, which advocates According to a recent survey, a total of 47 It’s not unusual to see cross-boundary workers The author is a senior counsel, law of any committee are only ever as good as a “Hong Kong republic”, was prepared percent of companies said they were not con- fi lling immigration halls each morning. professor and criminal justice analyst, its ability to get to the facts, and there is to “use all methods, including the use of fi dent they will locate talents with the skills Companies also play a key role in realizing I and was previously the director of always a danger when reliance is placed public prosecutions. force, and also encouraging its support- necessary to meet business needs in the year free movement across the Bay Area. Pony on people with axes to grind. ers to use force”. Since it constituted a ahead. The skills gap has widened in the last Ma Huateng, founder and chief executive of A case in point is the Foreign A airs Their (Patten and his direct threat, Lee was obviously within year — up from 36 percent who said the same Tencent, believes rigid restrictions on the fl ow Committee of Britain’s House of Com- his rights in closing it down. After all, the thing in 2018. of talents in the Bay Area prevented Hong mons. Although it has recently published ilk) objective is to strike same thing happened in the UK in 2016, This means most enterprises will struggle Kong companies from hiring sta from the a report which concludes that Hong Kong at China by blackening when the British government proscribed to meet their talent needs in the year ahead. mainland and has raised the idea of Bay Area is moving toward “one country, one and National Action, a far-right political party, But as well as challenges, there are opportu- ID Card and suggested storing Hong Kong a half systems”, it has relied heavily on Hong Kong, and we must together with its a liates. As recognized nities, especially for key industries enjoying and Macao residents’ Mainland Travel Permit biased sources. A submission, for example, by international civil rights instruments, fast growth. information on mobile phones to give them from Hong Kong Civil Hub, an obscure hope that at some point no civilized society can be expected to tol- The demand for skilled workers is particu- greater mobility as well as access to services group co-founded by professional agitator the Foreign Affairs Com- erate threats to national security or to the larly acute in four fast-growing industries: such as mobile payments. Joshua Wong Chi-fung, was highlighted safety of its people. Patten, needless to say, research and development within innovative What we are seeing now is a real demand in the report, even though it is little more mittee will get wise. was hell-bent on blackening China, and technologies, fi nancial services, trade and for trilingual candidates who speak English, than an anti-China rant. explained none of this to the committee. logistics, and the medical industry. Putonghua and Cantonese. They are essen- There was also a submission from In August 2017, for example, after However, the committee should itself R&D in technology lacks data scientists, tial to facilitate cross-boundary cooperation. Benedict Rogers’ Hong Kong Watch, a UK- several activists were imprisoned by the have approached Patten’s evidence with cloud architects, user interface designers, Eventually the region wants to be more open based think tank which acts as a cheer- Court of Appeal for street violence, Patten a healthy skepticism, given his increasing solution engineers and artifi cial intelligence and able to bring in international talents to leader for anyone with bad things to say weighed in. He told the Financial Times eccentricity on the home front. Although professionals. The success of these industries support this development — which is happen- about Hong Kong. Rogers, whose antics that “responsibility for this deplorable he always preaches democracy for Hong is essential for the Bay Area to become a global ing now. But we are seeing a high demand for led to his exclusion from Hong Kong in decision rests solely on the Hong Kong Kong, he has used his seat as an unelected technology and innovation hub. returnees who have study and work experi- 2017, once bizarrely described Wong and government’s shoulders”, which beggared member of the House of Lords to seek to In fi nancial services, demand is highest for ence in Western countries. fellow agitator Nathan Law Kwun-chung belief. It was, of course, the judges who undermine the overwhelming decision relationship managers who can work cross- And a lot more Hong Kong talents are now as his “heroes”. Notwithstanding its lack took the decision he deplored, as every taken by the British people in 2016 to boundary within the banking sector. Chinese more willing to work on the mainland, espe- of objectivity, the committee also drew on layman knows, and not the government. leave the European Union. While many and international banks based in Guangdong cially in the innovation and tech sector. Relax- this submission. Realizing that his confusion had dented people have assumed that, as a Europhile are looking for relationship managers from ation of boundary controls would encourage As usual, the former Hong Kong gover- his credibility, Patten was careful this time and former EU commissioner in receipt of Hong Kong who can speak Putonghua and more of them to seek career advancement on nor, Chris Patten, was trotted out, to give to tell the committee that “by and large an EU pension, he is simply stuck in the are willing to move. They can bring with them the mainland. his now familiar spiel about how Hong the judges have behaved pretty well”, but past, it has recently emerged that there is their relationships, networks and knowledge Doing so would o er them a competitive Kong is going to the dogs without him. He he could not leave matters there. more to it than that. to help banks grow their businesses on the edge through upskilling (upgrading one’s work called the Department of Justice “a transi- He announced that there had been In 2018, on a visit to Ireland, Patten mainland. Also in demand are professionals in skills and abilities) as they are acquiring a cer- tion mechanism for the United Front or “a lot of pressure” on the judges, which once again made the case for the EU, but risk and compliance. tain experience that makes them more valu- Beijing”, notwithstanding its constitution- was the identical allegation made by his this time the mask slipped. He claimed Hong Kong will be the jewel in the Bay Area able to any employer. ally guaranteed independence and highly acolyte, former chief secretary Anson “mercantilist Leninism in China” was crown as an international fi nancial center. It Shenzhen, for instance, is developing into an professional lawyers. He was apparently Chan Fang On-sang, when she visited the seeking global economic domination, will still be the world’s largest o shore renmin- innovation hub.