Chung yesterday said an InnoLife Healthtech Hub will be set up at the park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop.

The hub will specialize in research and development in biomedicine, chemistry, physics, engineering and artificial intelligence, which will be applied to areas such as disease prevention, diagnosis, tracing, medication and miniature robots for surgeries, as well as advanced treatment and rehabilitation.

"Hong Kong will continue to improve the ecological circle for IT development and join hands with Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area in mulling policies to facilitate cross-boundary flow of talents and capital," he said.

"Construction at the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park is being conducted in full speed and we expect the first batch of eight blocks will be commissioned in phases towards the end of 2024."

Chung said the Northern Metropolis mega development plan, initiated by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her policy address last month, includes merging part of the IT park with San Tin in Lok Ma Chau to form a 240-hectare San Tin IT City, extending the park's overall size to 540 hectares.

He said San Tin IT City will become an office-residence community for IT talent at the park.

Strategic planning advisor for Hong Kong and Shenzhen Cooperation Ling Kar-kan said population in the city's northern part will increase 2.5 times to over 2.5 million from the current 960,000 and jobs will increase by 6.5 times once the Northern Metropolis is complete.

Ling commended the transformation as a "huge change to the imbalanced development in the north and south."

He said the Northern Link, expected to commence service by 2034, will be able to alleviate heavy patronage on the East Rail and Tuen Ma lines.

The link will become a key one for the SAR as it will be extended to the Lok Ma Chau Loop and new Huanggang Port with co-location arrangements.

The link will also come with an eastern extension to Lo Wu South, Man Kam To and Heung Yuen Wai.