Hong Kong will strive to leverage its advantages as an international city and strengthen its global competitiveness under its first Five-Year Plan.

Announcing the plan, Chief Executive John Lee outlined that it will steer a high-end and high-value-added transformation in the city’s service sector, enable the assembly of high-end resources and talent, and drive the integrated development of industries.

A key area of focus will be the city’s development as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre. Under the plan, Hong Kong will leverage its unique advantages as a common law jurisdiction to develop as a hub for high-calibre legal talent, promote the closer interface of rules and mechanisms safeguarding the rule of law across the Greater Bay Area, and work with the International Organization for Mediation to further its role, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as a global mediation capital.

Efforts will also be made to develop Hong Kong as a regional intellectual property (IP) trading centre. Besides enhancing IP protection mechanisms in alignment with international rules, reforms to the patent system will be deepened, with a view to fostering innovation and providing more effective support for technology transformation, and for the commercialisation, and industrialisation of research and development (R&D) outcomes.

A thriving IP trading ecosystem will be developed, meanwhile, through exploring IP financing modes, so as to channel capital into IP-intensive areas such as innovation and technology (I&T) and the cultural and creative industries.

The five-year plan also covers Hong Kong’s development as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.

The city will develop diverse arts, culture and creative industries, as well as the ecosystem to sustain them. It will also drive wider participation in sports, develop elite sports, maintain Hong Kong’s status as a centre for major international sports events, enhance professionalism in sports in the city, and develop sports as an industry.

Furthermore, it will deepen the integrated development of culture, sports, and tourism, and enrich the supply of high-quality tourism products, while bolstering infrastructure and ancillary facilities. Hong Kong will develop a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism and facilitate visitors’ extension of their itineraries to the Greater Bay Area and other provinces and municipalities.

Visit Part 2 of Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan for more details.