China is moving ahead with plans to create a cohesive economic zone in the south of the country that can challenge its global rivals and emerge as a world-class driver of economic growth, this would mean surpassing Tokyo, New York and the San Francisco bay area economies, to succeed, the relevant infrastructures, including major and supporting infrastructure projects, as well as policies and regulations will all have to be in place, as such, this conference is a timely platform to update on infrastructure projects that is currently towards completion and significant other projects in the pipeline, with significant discussion on new development hotspots that will emerge along strategic infrastructure routes, all this is geared to realize the development plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into reality
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area initiative will herald a new era of regional integration among the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao and nine cities in Guangdong Province, namely Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan and Zhuhai, covering 56,000 square-kilometer land areas and a total of 3,201 kilometer continental and island coastlines, propelling the entire region into what will become the most comprehensive economic powerhouse in terms of number of industries compared with other world-renowned bay areas. To succeed, the relevant infrastructures, policies and regulations will all have to be in place including breaking down the barriers of the administrative planning and management system in nine cities and two administrative regions. This will form the foundation of discussion at this conference, as well as update on infrastructure projects that will transform the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into stronger economic connectivity and cooperation. Work has begun to connect the 11 cities that form the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which includes the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is one of the biggest infrastructure projects for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will have a total length of about 55 km, including a 6.7 km underwater tunnel and a 23 km bridge over the sea that crosses the Lingding Channel and connects the three cities, is inches toward completion, costing US$17 billion. There are other infrastructure projects that could be even more significant for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as such this conference will provide access to critical information relating to series of infrastructure projects coming up, in order to bring under one roof, all the stakeholders, decision makers, industry players and experts to share best practices and fresh innovation towards successful planning and implementation, in order to realize the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan into reality.