Editorial: Preface to the Special Issue on the Greater Bay Area

Since its establishment in 1990, the Hong Kong Public Administration Association (HKPAA) has been committed to promoting and enhancing the quality of research and practice of public sector management in Hong Kong and the broader region. It provides a forum for the identification and discussion of important issues in public administration and management, collaborating with local universities and overseas counterpart organisations to spark interest in the pursuit of best practices in public services and emerging themes through regular dinner talks, seminars, and conferences featuring renowned leaders from both public and private sectors.To celebrate its 35th Anniversary, HKPAA has jointly organised, with the International Chamber of Sustainable Development (ICSD), the “APAC ESG Forum on The Impacts of ESG on Business and Government: An Asia-Pacific Perspective” on 22 October 2025 in Hong Kong. In today’s rapidly evolving global political and economic landscapes, integrating Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) into business and government operations is crucial for long-term success, sustainable development, risk mitigation, and stakeholder trust. ESG guides organisations to adopt environmentally friendly practices, fulfill social responsibilities, maintain robust governance, and drive innovation and efficiency. Artificial Intelligence (AI) serves as a key tool for automating data collection, improving ESG reporting accuracy, and optimising resource use to enhance sustainability and operational performance. Together, ESG and AI help organisations navigate complexity and meet stakeholder expectations. The Forum has gathered insights from various experts, including academics, practitioners, and regulators from South Korea, Singapore, India, Indonesia, and Hong Kong to explore how ESG can help both private and public organisations to address global challenges and achieve long-term success.First published in 1992, the PAP journal has been available online in open access on the Emerald Insight Platform since 2018. This year marks the 32nd anniversary of its first launch and the 8th anniversary of its online publication with Emerald. Currently, the Journal publishes three issues annually, including at least one special issue and around twenty-five articles per year.In 2024, PAP attracted over 200 paper submissions from authors in 54 countries. As of April 2025, the total amount of downloads for all published articles in the last 12 months was 45,569. The Journal has obtained a 5-year Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 1.3 as released by Clarivate and is abstracted and indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). The Scopus/WoS Citations were 292 and 140 respectively in 2024 (increased from 192 and 111 in 2023), while the Scopus CiteScore index was 2.8 (increased from 2.5).PAP has invited more editor/associate editors to join as member of the Editorial Board in handling the growing number of paper submissions. In 2025, many scholars from renowned universities and institutes have accepted the invitations to serve as PAP’s advisors in the Asia Pacific Editorial Board and the International Editorial Advisory Board.In summary, PAP is abstracted and indexed by: Scopus, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), CrossRef, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), EBSCO Discovery Service, Google Scholar, Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Healthcare Administration Database (ProQuest), ProQuest Central, ProQuest Central Basic (Korea), ProQuest Central Essentials, ProQuest Central Student, Publicly Available Content Database (ProQuest), Summons (ProQuest), WorldCat and The British Library. Academics and practitioners in public administration, management, public policy, and related fields are encouraged to contribute papers to this journal.This third issue of PAP in 2025 is comprised of two parts. The first part contains articles of the Special Issue on “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China: building a world-class finance, innovation and technology hub”, guest-edited by Professor Roger C.K. Chan, Professor Peter K.W. Fong and Dr. Alice Y.C. Te. It includes six articles focusing on various aspects of the GBA, including the overall development, cross-border healthcare, state banks, smart city development, urban planning, and female academic profession. Please refer to the Introduction to the Special Issue for brief descriptions of each article.In addition to the articles of the Special Issue, the second part includes two regular articles on higher education in India and AI in healthcare in Indonesia. A summary of these two articles is provided below.The first article “Revolutionizing higher education: rethinking funding and global models with an Indian lens” by Ram Kumar Mishra highlights the heavy reliance of India’s higher education sector on government funding as a critical challenge. It emphasises the need to explore alternative, sustainable financial sources to reduce dependency and ensure robust support for academic institutions in a global context. Using a cross-national comparative approach grounded in secondary data, the study evaluates financing practices and policy frameworks across countries. The findings reveal that while research on higher education in India is multidimensional, it lacks sufficient focus on self-sustained finance and models linking to market economies. To address this gap, the paper proposes innovative financing instruments and reform measures. Key recommendations include transforming the legal framework, enhancing internal systems, increasing project management awareness, controlling massification, implementing thoughtful privatisation, improving financial management skills, and diversifying the products offered by higher education institutions. These measures aim to reduce reliance on state support and create a more sustainable financial ecosystem for academic institutions.The second article “Championing AI in healthcare: the impact of stakeholders on the adoption of Robotic Telesurgery Project in Indonesia” by Hardini Kusumadewi and Ning Jing explores how various stakeholders, namely the Ministry of Health (MOH), hospitals, universities, health polytechnics, and health industries, influence the adoption of the Robotic Telesurgery Project in Indonesia. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in stakeholder theory and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, stakeholders are categorised into four types based on their power and interest: Key Players, Keep Informed, Keep Satisfied, and Minimal Effort. These stakeholders impacted the adoption of robotic telesurgery through three key mechanisms — technological, organisational, and environmental — which encompassed factors such as the technology’s advantages, trust, communication, infrastructure readiness, regulatory support, and alignment of interests. The study is pioneering in its examination of stakeholder dynamics in the context of advanced health technology adoption within a developing country like Indonesia. It provides valuable, practical insights into managing collaborative efforts among diverse stakeholders to facilitate the successful implementation of innovative medical technologies.We hope this special issue will make significant contributions to the understanding of the GBA for policy makers, scholars, and practitioners in various countries around Asia and the world.Peter K.W. FongEditor-in-Chief, PAP JournalPresident, Hong Kong Public Administration AssociationProfessor Peter K.W. Fong, PhD (New York University), is President of Hong Kong Public Administration Association and Editor-in-Chief of PAP Journal. He teaches strategic management and supervises DBA students’ dissertations of the University of Wales TSD. He also serves as Principal Consultant of the International Chamber of Sustainable Development and holds memberships of HK Institute of Planners & Planning Institute Australia. He was a Teaching Fellow of Judge Business School, University of Cambridge; Visiting Scholar, Department of Urban Studies & Planning, MIT; Founding Director of EMBA programme, HKU Business School; Founding Director, Centre for Executive Development, HKU SPACE; Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning and Urban Design, HKU; Executive Vice President of City University of Macau; Honorary Professor, China Training Centre for Senior Civil Servants in Beijing; Studies Director, Civil Service Training & Development Institute, HKSAR Government. He was appointed as Advisory/Visiting Professors by Tongji, Tsinghua, Renmin, and Tianjin universities in Mainland China, and Chinese University of HK and HK Polytechnic University. He was Consultants of the World Bank and Delta Asia Bank. Peter K.W. Fong can be contacted at: [email protected]