In view of Hong Kong’s strong economic performance and a positive outlook, HKGCC agrees that a moderate increase in SMW could be considered. Nevertheless, we should note that an excessive hike in the level of SMW could have a number of dire consequences. Therefore, attention should be given to a basket of factors such as the economic conditions, supply and demand, impact to businesses and cost of living, among others when reviewing SMW.

The Chamber welcomes the Government’s decision to launch a review of the Broadcasting Ordinance and Telecommunications Ordinance, although we are surprised that it has taken six years to carry out this review. We would therefore like to resubmit our previous proposals for the Government’s consideration and call on it to expedite the process of updating these two pieces of legislation through a holistic rather than narrow approach.

The Chamber submitted its proposals on facilitating Trade in Goods under Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) to Ministry of Commerce of PRC and Trade and Industry Department of HKSAR on 26 April 2018.