Hong Kong and other cities in the Pearl River Delta must work together to "knock down the barriers" and become more business friendly, HKSAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, told the audience at the Pearl River Delta Conference on July 8-9.

Co-organised by HKGCC and the South China Morning Post, government officials, business leaders, and academics speaking at the conference were unanimous in their calls for the region as a whole to work together to reap the maximum benefit of their complementary competitive advantages.

Mr Tung said if the economies of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta continued to grow at the same rate as in the past, their combined GDP would increase from about US$250 billion to US$500 billion in 10 years' time.

But he warned that Hong Kong and the cities of the Pearl River Delta must become more business friendly by speeding up customs clearance, and improving the infrastructure links in the region.

"We need to make ourselves -- Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta -- much more competitive, compared with some of the other regional economies on the Mainland," he said.

To improve the flow of people and goods across the border, he said the government had streamlined border clearance procedures, and was working with the Central Government and Guangdong authorities to relieve the congestion at Lowu and Lok Ma Chau.

"We know the congestion at Lowu and Lok Ma Chau is not only an irritation, not only an inconvenience, but also a huge economic loss to both Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. ... Relieving congestion -- making the flow of goods and people move more smoothly -- is our priority," he said.

The completion of the Western Corridor in 2006 and the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line in 2007 is expected to vastly improve the cross-boundary capacity. Further measures are being looked at including the co-location of customs and immigration services, and 24-hour customs clearance service for goods vehicles.

Feasibility studies looking into developing express cargo and passenger ferry services connecting major ports in the Pearl River Delta and the Hong Kong International Airport, as well as a regional express line linking Hong Kong with Guangzhou via Shenzhen within one hour by rail are also being carried out.