China has never hosted the FIFA World Cup, so should Hong Kong take the lead and apply to host the World Cup on behalf of China in the name of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area?
Only in this way can Hong Kong host a truly solid international event and truly step onto the international stage.
Moreover, by hosting the World Cup in the Greater Bay Area, it can promote cooperation and exchanges between cities in the Greater Bay Area.
The importance of the four-year World Cup lies in its ability to create a large environment for infrastructure construction.
The advantage of the Greater Bay Area is that it already has very good infrastructure - high-speed rail, transportation networks, and stadiums that are constantly being built. As long as some resources are added, the World Cup can be hosted.
In contrast, many other places, such as the current World Cup held in Qatar, basically started from scratch and invested heavily in infrastructure.
If Hong Kong wants to return to the international stage, it must hold some large-scale international projects with real materials, not just some seminars, forums, or some international public relations activities that feel good about itself.
In fact, Hong Kong currently holds very few large-scale international events. For example, the "Business of Design Week" (Business of Design Week) that the Hong Kong government has been emphasizing may no longer have much international influence.
The biggest problem is that the Hong Kong government is not even clear about its own design policy, and the quality is very low.
Just look at the logos (signs) of various government departments to get an idea of the current situation.
Today's Hong Kong is not really a world-class international city.
Of course, Hong Kong has accumulated a lot of world-class wealth, but it has not accumulated a culture of innovation. The Hong Kong government and establishment have no upgrade system or upgrade system.
Hong Kong's hosting of the World Cup will bring many benefits, and it should even strive to host such international sports events as the Asian Games.
The Hong Kong government should concentrate resources on these projects instead of investment promotion activities that have no specific effect.
The Hong Kong government does not need to attract investment, because Hong Kong is already attractive, and investors will naturally come.
What the Hong Kong government has to do now is to reform its own governance system, including urban planning, housing policies, tourism policies, cultural and sports policies, etc., which involve government operational issues rather than social and civil issues.
The Hong Kong government has become the biggest stumbling block to the development of the Hong Kong people. The best way to remove the stumbling block is to hold truly large-scale international events.
First, it has an absolute deadline (Absolute Deadline), which is bound to happen.
Second, the government needs to make self-adjustments in order to face genuine international institutions and international standards. It cannot use various procedural reasons to resist reform.
Just ask different industries, and you will know that many problems in Hong Kong come from the government rather than from the people. It can even be said that the biggest obstacle to Hong Kong's development is the Hong Kong government.
Having a really big international project could really change the behavior of the Hong Kong government.
The most important thing is for the government to carry out systemic reforms. Only by driving reforms through external forces can the Hong Kong government be reborn, leaving the shadow of the 1990s and entering a new management model in the 21st century.
Hong Kong drives the Greater Bay Area to apply to host the World Cup, and it will inevitably get the approval and support of Hong Kong enterprises and society.
The SAR government should concentrate its efforts on planning and researching how to make things happen, instead of running some projects that only disperse resources and are actually not needed at all.
The author Hu Enwei is a member of the National Hong Kong and Macao Studies Association, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial CPPCC, and Zuni.
Joint Art Director and CEO of Icosahedron.
The article is only the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.
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