Letters | Hong Kong’s budget should give smart village plans a boost

Readers discuss how technology can help revitalise rural areas, the government’s anti-rodent campaign, the Lunar New Year parade, and the HK$2 transport subsidy

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Visitors take photographs in the village of Mui Tsz Lam, an ancient Hakka village nestled in the mountains south of Lai Chi Wo in the North District, in October 2022. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 11:30am, 11 Feb 2025

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The integration of technology into rural areas in mainland China has helped lift their populations out of poverty. Hong Kong could learn from this. With social support and encouragement, developing a “hi-tech countryside” can serve rural residents, improving their quality of life.

The 14th five-year plan supports developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub. To integrate into the nation’s development and the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong must promote technology cooperation and exchange with the mainland.

The Hong Kong government released its first Smart City Blueprint at the end of 2017, followed by the Smart City Blueprint 2.0 in 2020. The new blueprint introduced “smart village pilots” aiming to incorporate hi-tech elements into rural communities.

Imagine using advanced technology such as 5G, augmented reality and mixed reality for immersive projections. For example, tourists could experience the making of blue-and-white porcelain in pottery kilns at Wun Yiu village in Tai Po from centuries ago.

In Ap Chau and Kat O, part of the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark, tourists could watch fishermen as they worked in the past. Visitors could witness the formation of the Duck’s Eye sea arch in Ap Chau.