Buzzwords and hubs

Hong Kong ’returns to black’. But the operating surplus includes income raised by issuing bonds, which of course are loans that have to be repaid with interest. Net that out, and they’re HK$100 billion in the red. But they’re still chucking it around anyway.

On to the details… What two things does Hong Kong need most? If you answer a) a new light show and b) more tourists – well done! (Should tourism promotion really belong in an annual government budget? If it’s going to cost the taxpayer money – the HK Tourism Board is getting HK$1.6 billion – then I guess so.)

The 2026-27 budget speech is all here. Here are around half the subject headings, selectively edited to highlight the buzzwords, BS, hype and (a dozen) hubs…

Proactively (no less) aligning with the PRC’s Five-Year Plan This is there to remind everyone that we are a part of China, in case you hadn’t noticed….

Being an international financial centre, Hong Kong will drive “Finance+”, capitalising on our financial sector to better serve the real economy and industries with competitive edge, and pressing ahead towards mutual empowerment of finance and I&T.  In so doing, we can leverage our strengths to serve the country’s needs…

Not sure what that means. But rest assured that the purpose of Hong Kong’s international financial centre will continue to be to make money. For itself.

AI Obviously. 

Synergising with Market Forces to Accelerate Innovation and Technology Development Remember the Lok Ma Chau Loop? Now called the Hetao Hong Kong Park, plus San Tin Technopole – trendy-buzzword industrial parks. The ‘synergising’ is about urging landowners to rent space to trendy buzzword industries elsewhere in Northern Metropolis-Land. (My spell-check is OK with ‘synergising’, so it must be a word.)

Patient Capital is a thing – basically long-term investment in nice things that won’t make much money… 

In addition to seeking medium- to long-term investment returns for our fiscal reserves, the HKIC aims to bring in more frontier technology enterprises and patient capital to Hong Kong, as well as promote in‑depth collaboration among the Government, industry, academia, research institutes and investors.  It also aims to accelerate the establishment of Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem and the development of strategic industry chains.  All these will enhance our competitiveness and contribute to the diversified development of our economy.

Are the civil servants who write this paid by the word?

Regional Intellectual Property Trading Centre  Desperately trying to think of something we can be a hub for, and something that isn’t tourism.

International Hub for High calibre Talents  Would ‘cluster’ be a better word? Or ‘magnet’ – at least ideally? On top of a classic East Asian collapse in the birth rate, Hong Kong has seen a significant outflow of young skilled people. Solution: replace them with Mainlanders. Problem: many of the Mainlanders plan to move on to other parts of the world.

Integrated Development of Culture, Sports and Tourism  But not necessarily in that order…

To support “tourism is everywhere” and promote “urban-rural integration”, we propose allocating $200 million for launching the “NM Urban-rural Integration Fund” as a pilot scheme. The scheme aims to encourage non-governmental organisations and relevant bodies to take forward rural tourism projects and bring economic vitality to rural villages.

The tourism bureaucrats who really hate beaches obviously hate those villages too. Have you tried ‘tourism is nowhere’? 

Green Finance, Green Tech, Green Blah Blah Whatever happened to Islamic banking?