Aspiring to nurture future leaders in society, MPUP invites professional practitioners from various public policy sectors from time to time to share their experience and insights with students.

Thanks to the coordination by Dr Mark Michelson, teacher of MPUP5331 Government and the Economy, Mr. Mike Rowse, former government official and founder of InvestHK, was invited to share about his 30-year public administration career in Hong Kong while witnessing the rapid development of infrastructure in his former positions, during the MPUP5331 class on 9 March 2020 (Mon).

Mr. Rowse kick-started the session by sharing his early career as a journalist for The Star (HK tabloid) covering news stories about corruption and crime when he first came to Hong Kong, followed by his experience with the Hong Kong ICAC and the HKSAR Government as an Administrative Officer. He was then made the first Director of the Financial Secretary from 1997 to 2000, and the first Commissioner for Tourism from 1999 to 2000. With his experience in negotiating the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort deal on behalf of the HKSAR Government in which the Government became the park’s largest shareholder, Mr. Rowse also gave insights on the issue of whether the HKSAR Government should have participated in the development of the Hong Kong Disneyland.

Despite the fact that the sharing session was organized in the form of webinar via Zoom due to the COVID-19 outbreak, students enjoyed Mr. Rowse’s insightful sharing and grasped the opportunity to exchange ideas with Mr. Rowse during the Q&A session.