Region 'the best chance for youth to realize dreams'

A prominent entrepreneur has called for more social services to be provided for Hong Kong and Macao residents planning to relocate to other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, especially young talents and the elderly.

Hui Wing-mau - founder and chairman of property developer Shimao Group - believes the development of the Bay Area offers the best chance, after the nation's reform and opening-up, for young people from the two special administrative regions to start a business in the Bay Area.

"Youths could make their mark there with their professional skills in medicine, law, accounting, finance and innovative technology. Participation in building the Bay Area could also help them achieve personal development goals," said Hui.

According to the Bay Area blueprint unveiled on Monday, young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong can get fundings from the local entrepreneurship subsidies on offer. Those seeking jobs in the Bay Area could get aid through other means, such as the Youth Development Fund launched by Hong Kong's Home Affairs Bureau.

Hui also chairs the New Home Association - a Hong Kong-based charity organization that founded the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Home in Guangzhou last month.

The youth home will help young people from Hong Kong and Macao studying, working and living within the Bay Area to overcome problems ranging from starting up a business to accessing public services. It will also support their families in managing their everyday lives.

Hui said the association will work on social welfare measures for Hong Kong's elderly people living in the region, as the development plan calls for enhancing the portability of the SAR's social security programs for the elderly.

The association will explore ways of providing more social services and creating a cozy environment for the elderly by integrating each city's social welfare resources.

According to the latest data from a Hong Kong population by-census, there were more than 1.1 million people aged 65 and above living in the city in 2016 - up 36.4 percent from a decade ago.

Amid sky-high home prices in Hong Kong, and with the opening of new transport links, the measures raised in the blueprint are likely to encourage more senior residents in Hong Kong to move to Guangdong.

Some experts have urged the Hong Kong SAR Government to come up with detailed short- and mid-term plans to guide and guarantee the welfare of elderly people planning to move to the Bay Area.