Gordon Wu is happy to leave the management of his multi-billion dollar company, Hopewell Holdings, to his son when he retires on reaching the age of 70 toward the end of next year. But he has made his son promise him one thing: to make him chief engineer in charge of the building of the much talked about Hong Kong-Zhuhai bridge if Hopewell wins the contract in a future bid.

That, he says, is the only thing that he really wants to do. A Princeton-educated civil engineer, Wu is widely credited with being the first person in Hong Kong to draw up a detailed plan for that bridge. Although his plan has been regarded by critics as premature, his vision is convincing enough to have prompted the Hong Kong government to launch a full-scale feasibility study on the proposal.

In an interview with China Daily, Wu says that the idea of the bridge, which could open up the relatively less developed western region of Guangdong Province by linking Hong Kong and Zhuhai through Macao, came to his mind some 25 years ago. "I want to be the person building it," he says.

To realize his dream, Hopewell, of course, will have to win what is expected to be a hotly contested bid against major local rivals as well as some of the strongest civil engineering contractors on the mainland and abroad. But Wu's personal qualification and experience in overseeing the construction of such a project is hardly of doubt.

"My expertise will be useful," he says. That expertise came not only from his education background but, more importantly, from his years of experience in the development of infrastructure facilities, including toll roads, power plants and bridges, on the mainland as well as various southeast Asian countries, particularly Thailand.

To be sure, not all of his projects have been a success. But the ones that failed were mainly sabotaged by bureaucratic meddling more than by operational incompetence. As for the building of the proposed Hong Kong/Zhuhai bridge, Wu says that the technology for the project isn't "rocket science" and the seemingly daunting task of raising the necessary funds from banks is "the least of my worries".What would be his biggest concern if he got the chance to take charge of the building of the proposed bridge? "Bureaucrats," he answers curtly.

Known for his outspokenness in business as well as politics, Wu says that Hong Kong sometimes seems to be governed not so much "of the people, by the people, for the people", but rather "by consultants". Obviously, Wu dislikes "consultants" as much as "bureaucrats" for they are seen to have colluded in stymieing many of the plans proposed by him and others in the business sector to improve and expand Hong Kong infrastructure facilities.

His criticisms touch on a sensitive issue in defining Hong Kong's future role in its integration into the economies of the region comprising Guangdong and eight other mainland provinces, plus Macao. The concept of establishing this vast economic zone was articulated at the Pan-Pearl River Regional Co-operation and Development Forum held in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangzhou last week.

The idea of forming a Pan-Pearl River Delta region is a "god-send" for Hong Kong, exclaims Wu. In time, "I expect it will expand to encompass all the ASEAN countries. By then, "Japan and South Korea will find it to their advantage to join as well," he adds.

An economic zone of this size and diversity will be in the same league of, or even surpass, the European Union and NAFTA. "By 2020, I expect that the expanded Pan-Pearl River Delta region will be the world's largest trade zone," he says.

As a premier financial and services centre, Hong Kong has much to gain from the formation of this economic zone. Such potential benefits, Wu says, have been "given to us free by the central government who has wisely tried to eliminate competition for competition sake," he says. "All we need now is to do what we can do best."

But the determination to excel has been in decline, laments Wu. As a result, Hong Kong is lagging behind some neighbouring mainland cities in infrastructure developments to meet rapidly rising demand, according to Wu.

"The situation can be likened to the much recounted tale of the race between the hare and the turtle. Hong Kong is like the hare in the story that falls asleep during the race," Wu says. "If we don't wake up and act now we are going to be forever left behind," he warns.

Wu cites the deadlock in the development of the container terminal to illustrate his point. Although Hong Kong is well positioned to be the logistic centre for the Pearl River Delta region and beyond, "we haven't done anything significant to improve and expand our container port facilities for many years", he says.

Hong Kong may have one of the world's most efficient container handling facilities. But the high cost of handling and additional land transportation charges have combined to drive more and more business to the container ports in Shenzhen and other nearby facilities.

There is no reason whatsoever for this to be happening, Wu says. "Hong Kong is enjoying all the advantages - its software is way ahead of any city on the mainland and it is endowed with the only deep sea port in the entire South China region - and yet it is losing business to the mainland facilities. Why?" he asks.

"It is because of inaction," he answers. Serving on the government-sponsored port advisory board, Wu says he has been calling for the release of more government land for the building of new and more modern container ports. "For years, I have been saying that we've got to build more handling facilities to meet the projected increase in demand arising from the rapid growth of mainland exports," he says.

But the government, he says, has chosen to listen to consultants who kept saying that there is no immediate need for new facilities because the existing ports have the capacity to cope with the estimated increase in throughput. Of course, the few companies that control the cargo-handling business in Hong Kong are against any expansion plan that could invite new players into the business, Wu says. (The container-port operators, on previous occasions, have refuted similar allegations.)

Wu insists that even if the government policy on container ports is to change in future, neither he nor his company will consider getting into the business to avoid any potential conflict of interest. "I've instructed my son not to go into the business after he takes over the company on my retirement," he says.

"I don't want to be seen to be abusing my position as an adviser to the government on such matters," he says.

Whenever Wu talks about infrastructure, he invariably returns to his favourite project, the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai bridge. "Yes, building that bridge is the last of my wishes," he says.

By the way, the project of his dream also includes a tunnel linking Hong Kong's international airport at Chep Lap Kok on Lantau Island with the highway system in the western part of the New Territories that feeds into the proposed bridge. Such a tunnel could greatly enhance the role of Chek Lap Kok Airport as the air cargo gateway to the Pearl River Delta region, Wu says.

While expressing great confidence in the future of the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, Wu laments that many people in Hong Kong seem to have forgotten about the traditional sense of value which had propelled this barren territory to the forefront of Asian economies. He reiterates his call for Hong Kong people to unite in overcoming the present economic problems so that they can take full advantage of the expected opportunities provided by the new economic zone.

"We are not going to see much benefit from the Pan-Pearl River Delta region in the short term," he says. But "in due course, it will be a big boost for Hong Kong".

(HK Edition 06/07/2004 page18)