When Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered his maiden Policy Address in October, a top item on his agenda was to establish, within this year, a new government think tank called the Chief Executive Policy Unit (CEPU).
Besides monitoring public opinion and researching local issues, the CEPU will study national policies and international trends to inform policymaking. With an emphasis on absorbing views from outside the civil service, it also aims to enhance the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s long-term ability to communicate and win support for its policies.
The CEPU will inevitably draw comparisons with the old Central Policy Unit (CPU), whose job was to advise previous administrations on policy matters by bringing in wide-ranging perspectives from the professional sectors and civil society.
Under then-chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the CPU was revamped in an ultimately futile bid to position Hong Kong as an innovation hub. Its policy research and public sentiment polling functions practically ceased.
However, in the face of growing geopolitical tensions, Hong Kong is in dire need of a productivity reboot. This must be supported by bold policy ideas in economic development, reindustrialization, talent acquisition, urban design and strategic land-use planning. In the longer term, we need to surpass current thinking to thrive beyond 2047 and Hong Kong’s existing geographical boundaries. John Lee’s determination to reinvent a government think tank should therefore be duly acknowledged.
To make the most of this opportunity for a restart, a rejuvenated government think tank should encompass a wider range of functions. This can be carried out by a revived CPU alongside a CEPU, with each tasked with dedicated functions.
A restructured CPU should serve two major duties. First, as a policy research and advocacy body for the government, it should define the most pressing issues facing Hong Kong and offer innovative and practical solutions for public discussion. The civil service should form the backbone of the unit, with support from industry experts in the private sector.
Second, it should serve as a platform for professional and public engagement to systematically collect broad-based views to support and enrich the CPU at an early stage of policymaking. Business and civil society members in the CPU can also function as ambassadors for the government’s proposals, targeting opportunities for public persuasion to increase buy-in from stakeholders. This will in turn make the government’s thinking more nuanced and grounded.
The CEPU, on the other hand, should be a high-level policy coordination arm of the government. This is because, over the past year, senior officials have openly declared Hong Kong’s future trajectory would combine a proactive government and an efficient market. This represents a shift from the long-standing economic mantra of “positive noninterventionism”.
To reflect the mindset change, the HKSAR government should ambitiously consider modelling the CEPU after the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Sitting under the State Council, the NDRC is in charge of strategic long-term planning for the country. China’s social reforms and sustained economic growth since the turn of the century have owed in no small part to the policy coordination and execution heft the commission commands.
Taking a proven national lead, the CEPU should focus on forward planning and policy realization. It should coordinate cross-bureau policymaking and execution and identify promising investment projects to streamline approvals and resource allocation.
Second, it should open up an uninterrupted avenue for the chief executive to keep his ear to the ground by redressing grievances arising from maladministration or bureaucratic misjudgment.
Lastly, the CEPU should master national policies and international trends. It must maintain close connections with the bureaus and departments on the mainland to ensure the HKSAR government’s policy directions are aligned with the nation’s long-term development strategy. Good governance also requires leaders to anticipate global risks and opportunities, especially amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
A new way forward for Hong Kong is possible by reviving the CPU as an effective government think tank on local policy matters, and by positioning the CEPU as a policy coordinator that connects the city with the Chinese mainland and the world. This twin model should reconcile the conflicting dynamics between policy research, coordination and public sentiment, a task that is long overdue.
In these complex ever-changing times, we must be able to provide fresh, solid and visionary support to policymaking in meeting future challenges.
The author is chairman of Doctoral Exchange, a Hong Kong-based think tank.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.