'Be flexible when developing land for tech hub'
A think tank urged the government on Wednesday to offer flexible land-use and compensation options when resuming land for its planned tech hub. The Our Hong Kong Foundation noted that more than half of the land in the first phase of the San Tin Technopole’s development is privately owned. Ryan Ip, the think tank’s vice president, said the administration should allow landowners to convert their land to help develop innovation and technology in the SAR. “The government could give discounts on land premiums. But in return, the private land owners have to secure potential strategic I&T enterprises for partnership,” Ip said. Ip also suggested that the government can issue San Tin Technopole bonds as an alternative compensation option for landowners, instead of just settling with cash. The think tank also endorsed government plans to grant land in the planned tech hub directly to top companies in the sector, but called on officials to make it as transparent as possible. It urged the government to come up with a clear policy framework and key performance indicators to show how incoming companies can contribute to the territory. “These KPIs, we stress, have to be objective. It can either be the industry value added by the companies, it can be the number of investments, it can be the number of people that the companies hire,” he said. "If somehow the companies cannot meet these KPIs, we suggest the government can take back the land, and this clause has to be inserted into the agreements between the government and the companies." Officials said in May that "outstanding companies" would be able to get hold of land at the San Tin Technopole, a site in the northern New Territories that is earmarked as the SAR's answer to Silicon Valley.