Chapter four hundred and thirty first sinister intentions
March in Hong Kong ushered in the most comfortable season of the year. The average temperature during this period is 25-6 degrees Celsius, neither cold nor hot. However, this year there seems to be a hint of chill in the air.
In Bryan's office in the Governor's Mansion, Governor Bryan, Chief Executive Kessos, Financial Secretary Weems, and Attorney General Merkel were all quietly listening to the report of the head of MI6 Xiangjiang.
It could be seen from the frowning expressions on several people's face that the news clearly made them unhappy, especially Brian's face, which showed a trace of anger.
After the intelligence chief left, Brian said in a deep voice: "It's such a huge formation, and not a single Chinese family can be trusted, even the several major Chinese families in the federation that we strongly support.
We have been given a lot of various resources and benefits, allowing its industry to develop rapidly in the past two years, but it is a white-eyed wolf that cannot be fed enough and has no intention of standing on our side."
"Brian, getting angry won't solve any problems, and you have to know that these are top businessmen in Hong Kong, and except for a few, they will not jump out to express their attitude.
The news this time is not too bad. In addition to many people from the Xianghua Club expressing their opinions, the other family leaders also just talked about the situation and did not take actions in favor of that side.
I think now we mainly need to increase policy support for economic development, boost the confidence of citizens and businesses, and let these families know that we have enough confidence in this place, so that the leaders of these families will not jump out to speak against us.
.”
After Kessos spoke out, Weems and Merk also put forward their own suggestions one after another, hitting some happy families on follow-up policies, strongly supporting British-owned enterprises in terms of policy, and canceling restrictions on Chinese-owned families in the Federation.
Policy support.
At the same time, accelerating the development strategic layout will not only promote economic prosperity in the short term, but also reduce its ability to resist risks.
According to the local planning strategy, the main pillars of economic development here are real estate, finance, education, film and television media, tourism and consumer services.
As for manufacturing, including high-tech industries, they are not within the scope of their planning. Starting from this year, the Bryan government will no longer sell industrial land without special circumstances.
In terms of commercial land, we also focus on selling land for office buildings and shopping mall development, while reducing the proportion of land for residential development.
At the same time, the conditions for settling in Xiangjiang will be relaxed to accelerate the growth of the permanent population in Xiangjiang. The initial plan is to increase the population by 200,000 per year.
As for the film and television media, the entry permit will be fully liberalized. As long as they comply with the same rules as the current film and television media companies, the government will not set any threshold.
Full support will be given to Central, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po, Tin Shui Wai, Tseung Kwan O and Shatin to build six major business districts in Hong Kong, making Hong Kong a world-class consumer city.
In terms of education, in addition to the sixteen colleges and universities with undergraduate degrees and above that are already in use and under construction, fourteen more colleges and universities with undergraduate degrees will be allocated for investment by Xiangjiang Capital who has the desire to run schools.
Construction will bring the number of colleges and universities in Xiangjiang with undergraduate degrees and above to 30.
As for the overabundance of colleges and universities, which leads to a decrease in the number of students and the number of schools, this is not within the scope of consideration by Brian and others.
Anyway, they will not restrict people from all over the country coming to study in Xiangjiang. Whether they can recruit students by then is up to each school.
At the same time, these foreign students from colleges and universities are also an important way to increase the permanent population of Xiangjiang. Most of them come from relatively wealthy families to study here. After all, there are not many charities or student aid foundations to help outstanding students come to study in Xiangjiang.
After all, the current universities in Hong Kong are far from being comparable to some universities in the United States, England and Japan.
In terms of finance, Xiangjiang is currently developing quite well, especially since the financial reform was implemented during the MacLehose government, Xiangjiang's financial industry has developed very rapidly, and they do not need to add any unnecessary extravagance.
Justice Secretary Merkel is obviously not willing to be a foil. Although economic development has little to do with his Justice Department, he also put forward some of his own views on subsequent development.
"With the rapid economic development in recent years, we should protect the labor rights of citizens. I suggest the introduction of a minimum hourly wage standard. As for the specific amount, I suggest the establishment of a minimum hourly wage association to be responsible for research in this area.
and enactment.”
Brian, Kessos, and Weems know very well that once this policy is implemented, it will accelerate the withdrawal of low value-added and labor-intensive industries.
However, several people have different opinions on whether to introduce this policy. Financial Secretary Wilms said: "Although this policy is indeed conducive to the relocation of low value-added enterprises in the short term, in the long term, this is inconsistent with our strategy.
support or oppose."
Brian also did not agree with Merk's suggestion. After all, their plan was mainly to win over and safeguard the interests of these Chinese-owned families, rather than to safeguard the interests of the lower class citizens.
Once they leave, the more these companies squeeze, the greater the conflict between the leaders of these companies and the North will become.
As the chief administrative officer, although Kesos hopes that the economy can maintain rapid growth under his rule, he has been responsible for local development work for a long time. How can he not know that the implementation of these policies will only create short-term superficial prosperity, and he will move toward that dazzling bubble?
It breaks when touched, and will fall into crisis at the slightest disturbance.
But the will of the local people must be implemented. Even though he knew very well that once these policies were implemented, they would be very detrimental to subsequent economic development, he still agreed to do so.
He only hopes that he can be transferred back to his hometown in three to five years, so that he can still have good political achievements. If he stays for more than ten years like his predecessor Xia Dingji, he is afraid that he will be labeled as incompetent by then.
on your own head.
After returning to the office building of the Administration Department, Kesos specially held a department meeting to convey the plan discussed by them and let the relevant departments make relevant plans and officially announce it to the public within this month.
Especially when it comes to colleges and universities, Kesos has been very liberal this time. The government transfers the land at a low price, and the government does not impose strict requirements on the location of the school. If the other party has sufficient capital, even if it is built in Central, the government will not
Opinion.
In addition, in terms of settlement, Kesos also put forward new requirements for the Immigration Department, giving priority to those who come to Hong Kong to study and engage in finance, tourism, film and television media, education, and medical care.
Starting from this year, before new policies are released, the annual increase in the permanent population will not be less than 200,000.
In view of the limited tourism resources available for citizens in Xiangjiang, within this year, the government will focus on planning and supporting the construction of a number of tourist attractions.
At the same time, since Hong Kong’s external personnel exchanges are mainly air transport, the government will increase support for Xiangjiang Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Kowloon Airlines, especially in terms of routes, and will further liberalize them.
Moreover, the expansion of Kai Tak Airport will be put on the agenda to meet the airport's growing passenger flow, and at the same time, it can also promote the development of Hong Kong's tourism economy and consumer economy.
It sounds like those present have different thoughts, especially those who are closely related to several major consortiums. They are all thinking about how much benefit these policies can bring to these consortiums and themselves.