Opinion | Hong Kong’s budget strives for balance but is not without blind spots

It might be easy to forget that Friday, March 1, marked one year since Hong Kong lifted its Covid-19 mask mandate. A year on, Hong Kong’s economy continues to wheeze on the path to full recovery. The Hong Kong government faces mounting fiscal deficits and sluggish economic growth, making them the central focus of the latest budget.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s eighth budget aims to strengthen the stuttering momentum of Hong Kong’s economic recovery and promote “high-quality” development, which conserves the natural environment and promises a green future, while restoring fiscal balance through a “fiscal consolidation strategy”.

The budget also mentions the government’s commitment to transforming Hong Kong into a centre for international innovation and technology, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputing and digitalisation.

This part of the budget appears to reveal some blind spots. It does not acknowledge technological trends that would serve Hong Kong well, including autonomous vehicles and the low-altitude economy, a concept that involves civil-manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The budget also does not recognise how AI can be harnessed to reduce expenditure, increase efficiency and lower the government’s civil service headcount.

The Lok Ma Chau Loop and Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone are just some examples of Chan’s “high-quality” development priorities. However, these priorities ignore environmental concerns surrounding the development of any technological infrastructure in the northern part of New Territories.