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Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the Hong Kong Executive Council and a Legislative Council member, gestures as she urges the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to take swift action to tap into space commercialization, for which \u201cthe framework is already in place\u201d. (EDMOND TANG \/ CHINA DAILY)<\/p>\n
Academics and business leaders on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong want the special administrative region to set up its own space industry office as more mainland space companies prepare to tap the city\u2019s financial market and professional services, according to Executive Council convenor and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need an all-inclusive, one-stop office to cope with the ever increasing demand for cross-boundary coordination and cooperation,\u201d she told China Daily in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n
Ip, who\u2019s also founding chairperson of the New People\u2019s Party, said an application to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing by a space enterprise based in Chengdu, Sichuan province, to go public in the city should be a \u201cwake-up\u201d call.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ: <\/strong>Seminar explores HK\u2019s potential in space-related technology industries<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Adaspace Technology — China\u2019s second-largest private space company — filed for a Hong Kong listing on Aug 25. It\u2019s reportedly \u201cstrategically poised in the burgeoning smart car technology sector\u201d which comes under the new space economy category.<\/p>\n The new space economy refers to a dynamic frontier in commercializing the space below the low Earth orbit, and is driven mostly by the private sector.<\/p>\n Ip said with mainland space companies \u201cknocking on the door\u201d to tap Hong Kong\u2019s financial market and professional services, the city should waste no time in creating a supervisory body for the new industry\u2019s emerging activities.<\/p>\n She recalled her own experience of having come across frustrated aerospace company executives who complained about getting lost in a chain of visits to government offices without being able to figure out an overall space policy in the SAR.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019ve recommended that the government ought to establish a space office and be a coordinator, working with space institutions and companies from different jurisdictions.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Ip, it\u2019s time to \u201cpull together various government agencies under the same roof\u201d to serve a booming sector that mainland players aspire to globalize through Hong Kong\u2019s role as a \u201csuper connector\u201d.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>New satellites strengthen space network<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Fellow legislator Duncan Chiu Tat-kun, president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Joint Council, said Hong Kong\u2019s space industry needs holistic comprehensive planning and a stable input from the government. \u201cWe hope leading aerospace enterprises will establish regional headquarters and high-end manufacturing bases in Hong Kong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Academic and business circles, however, are focusing more on tangible revenue by tapping the city\u2019s huge commercial potential in the new space economy in the low-altitude sphere which, in a sense, has nudged the aspirational outer space away from their consideration.<\/p>\n As the number and utility of low Earth orbit satellites soar, interconnected commercial activities related to these satellites drive innovation, investment, and collaboration across diverse sectors, according to Quentin Parker, director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n \u201cIf commercial activities emerge, the government will get ready and set up an agency to deal with it,\u201d said Ip, who\u2019s also the head and founder of the Savantas Policy Institute — a think tank launched by a group of \u201cpolicy aficionados\u201d at Stanford University in 2006.<\/p>\n However, Ip\u2019s vision of pushing Hong Kong\u2019s economic frontier into space has drawn skepticism from members of the public who see her ideas as \u201cunearthly and far-fetched\u201d.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, potential investors have advocated keeping Hong Kong at the forefront of global trends. The World Economic Forum estimated last year that the space economy will go \u201cfrom niche to ubiquitous\u201d — from $630 billion in 2023 to $1.8 trillion by 2035 — making the mobile world increasingly connected.<\/p>\n Mahesh Harilela, family council convenor of the Harilela Group, has also proposed setting up a space office as soon as possible. \u201cSince the new space is a promising area for the family office to consider, we need a place to understand the landscape, a framework that can connect with the Chinese mainland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n