Opinion | Funding the Northern Metropolis will be a big test for Paul Chan

If the project’s strategy is sound, economic development will come in time. Meanwhile, taxpayers will carry the financial load

Reading Time:4 minutes

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan speaks during a ceremony to mark the first trading day of the Year of the Snake at the Hong Kong stock exchange on February 3. Photo: AP

Published: 4:30pm, 23 Feb 2025Updated: 5:29pm, 23 Feb 2025

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po faces the greatest challenge of his career to date: development of the Northern Metropolis in general, and the financing of it in particular. Everyone who wishes our city well must hope he can rise to the occasion.

It now seems accepted by all parties that Hong Kong’s future growth revolves around turning a large part of the northern New Territories into a giant economic powerhouse and housing hub, with a strong technological component.

There are no detailed estimates at this stage of how much the whole project would cost but the final sum is sure to run into several hundred billion Hong Kong dollars. This is not surprising. After all, we are talking about a total of 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) and planning in respect of much of the area is only at a preliminary stage.

Implementation will in any event have to be in phases, bearing in mind professional and engineering resource constraints. I hope we will see some numbers in respect of the first stage in this week’s budget.

The question is how to foot the bill. Chan has already indicated he expects to borrow substantial sums by way of bond issues. This makes sense. After all, the resulting development represents an enduring asset that will serve the whole community for generations to come. It would be reasonable to push at least part of the costs over to those who will be enjoying the benefits, not lump all responsibility on the present generation.

That leads us to our second question: how to pay back those loans in due course? That is a bit more difficult because of the general nature of the investment, which will mainly be in site formation and basic infrastructure (water, drainage, sewage, power, roads, rail links and such) in the early stages to render the land suitable for development.