For Immediate Release
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce welcomes many of the initiatives presented by the Chief Executive in his Policy Address today, but the Chamber would like to see more specific details on these proposals. In particular, we believe the implementation of these ideas should be taken from concept to reality far more rapidly.
“We completely agree with the Chief Executive’s statement that economic development is critical for Hong Kong’s sustained growth. Without it, we will not be able to address issues such as poverty, housing, aging society and our environmental challenges,” said HKGCC Chairman C K Chow.
Initiatives to help the needy are welcomed by all sectors of society, but without financial prudence and economic development, they will not be sustainable. We are therefore pleased to see the policy decision to support low-income working families will help those who help themselves. Providing young people with more opportunities to enhance their education through education grants, subsidies for students to pursue higher education in the Mainland, and also scholarships will hopefully help diversify our talent pool and contribute to Hong Kong’s development.
The Chamber has been urging the Government to expand the Hong Kong Economic Trade Offices in Asia and the Mainland to help local businesses expand their markets. Discussions to include Hong Kong in the Hong Kong-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement is also welcomed, because it will, if successful, also help businesses and further reinforce our role as an international business hub. The development of the Free Trade Zone in Guangdong will affect Lantau’s development and also the environment, and the Government should ensure we do not miss out on these opportunities.
We hope the setting up of a civil aviation training institute, Innovation and Technology Bureau, and a new statutory maritime body, which our members have long been calling for, can become effective sooner rather than later. It is critically important that the Government continues to undertake major new initiatives to improve Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
The Chamber, which has long advocated rapid steps to alleviate Hong Kong’s acute labour shortage, is pleased to see the Government’s intention to launch a study to examine how more women can return to the workforce. The urgent need to implement a comprehensive policy to deal with the overall labour issue, however, has not been addressed, particularly in the construction sector, elderly care, retail, tourism and related sectors.
“Proposals to provide allowances for apprenticeships, the setting up of a Task Force on Vocational Education, and other measures will help prepare more youngsters to enter the economy,” said HKGCC CEO Shirley Yuen. “But we would like to see more specific policies on tackling the labour shortage, because this is seriously affecting the pace of economic growth in Hong Kong.”
Another key issue that the Chief Executive highlighted is land. The Pilot Scheme for the Arbitration on Land Premium will both optimize use of land and release more land for residential and commercial projects. While we welcome these initiatives, again we need to accelerate all these ideas into concrete working plans, such as the development of East Kowloon, and also Lantau into a tourism, entertainment and business hub.
Plans to legislate that marine vehicles switch to low-sulphur fuel, and greener transportation are welcomed, and need to be implemented quickly.
“Similarly, the $1 billion earmarked to launch a Recycling Fund will help develop the recycling sector and hopefully reduce waste. The community is ready and the recycling industry is ready to support this, but we need the details to be announced soon,” said Chow.
While this Policy Address focused on addressing social issues, the Chamber hopes the Financial Secretary’s upcoming Budget will focus on concerns affecting the business community. As the Chief Executive rightly pointed out, without economic growth, all members of our society will feel the pain. Therefore, it is critically important that the Government develops policies to help businesses’ competitiveness, especially our SMEs.
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