Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying led an SAR government delegation for an official visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Thursday. This was to meet with officials of Shenzhen and Guangdong province for talks concerning greater cooperation between the Hong Kong SAR and its mainland neighbors. Such cooperation has been going on since the nation's reforms and opening-up started some 40 years ago; there is no other way for it to go but forward.

Leung and his entourage visited Shenzhen before traveling to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. In our neighboring boomtown the CE and senior officials such as Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen and Director of the Chief Executive's Office Edward Yau Tang-wah met with Shenzhen Mayor Xu Qin after a visit to the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital. Their talks focused on further collaboration in a range of industries, including finance and innovation and technology, which is a new growth engine Hong Kong is keen on developing with as many partners as possible.

Shenzhen is a frontrunner in innovation and technology development on the mainland and can work more wonders if joined by Hong Kong, and vice versa. That is why the two cities have agreed to build an innovation and technology park at Lok Ma Chau Loop right by the Shenzhen River. Of course there are many other areas of the economy where the two cities can prosper. It is a matter of understanding and planning for both sides to capitalize on increased cooperation.

Take the HKU-Shenzhen Hospital for example; it is a fruit of cross-boundary cooperation in health service that has benefited both Shenzhen and Hong Kong residents. The newly launched Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect is another smart addition to financial hookups between the SAR and the mainland. Such links will only grow as time goes by and Hong Kong simply cannot afford to second-guess itself.

As a port city in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, Hong Kong has no excuse not to play an active part in the speedy development of the PRD region, which is one of three major regional economic powerhouses along with the Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Bay. Hong Kong can and should be a key player in the PRD regional development for its own long-term growth. To do so, Hong Kong must work closely with Guangdong province and forge even more ties to ensure productive collaborations.

(HK Edition 02/24/2017 page1)