 |
 |
|||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Advertise
In the Bulletin
Legco Report
From the Director
Cover Story
Getting visitors off the tourist trails
Hotel occupancy rate stable
Special Feature Luxury Shanghai hotels sure to delight business travellers
i-Perkin
APEC upbeat on economic outlook for U.S., Asia Pacific
Business
WTO Watch
Member Profile
Chamber Programmes
Mission to DPRK and Northeast China
Business the catalyst of Hong Kong's success
HKCSI returns from fruitful study mission to Beijing
Wine & Food
Wine
Business Lunches
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
August
2001 Issue   Two chances for members' views
to be heard
Summer is that time of year when even busy Hong Kong people tend to relax a little and, if their work schedule allows, take a few days holiday. For the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, however, there is a different set of priorities. This is the time of the year when the Chamber gets down to the serious work of assessing existing policies of the Hong Kong SAR Government and collecting the views of its members on the policy priorities they believe the administration should be setting for the immediate future. It is when we begin the process of assembling ideas for inclusion in two of our most important annual policy submissions. The first of these is the Chamber's annual letter to the Office of the Chief Executive outlining what you, our members, believe should be the theme and content of his Policy Address to the opening of the new Legislative Council session in October. This is an important submission, framed as a private letter from the Chamber Chairman to the Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, and taking a broad view of what the administration 's policy aims and objectives should be, viewed from the perspective of the local business community.The second key document, now also in the early stages of preparation, is the Chamber 's annual Budget submission for the forthcoming fiscal year, 2002-2003. This is a more public document, addressed to the Financial Secretary, but widely distributed to other policy makers, Legislative Council members and the media.Usually a quite lengthy submission, it outlines the Chamber 's key Budget and taxation recommendations to the Financial Secretary, after taking into account the likely economic and budgetary conditions in the year ahead.The timing of the delivery of these two submissions to government is critical if they are to be taken into consideration in drafting both the Chief Executive 's 2001 Policy Address and the Financial Secretary's Budget for the next (2002-2003) fiscal year.The Chamber 's letter of suggestions for the Policy Address is normally completed for delivery to his office in August. In normal circumstances, this should allow plenty of time for any ideas contained in it to be incorporated in the October speech, provided, of course, the government is receptive to them.As far as the Policy Address letter is concerned, internal consultations within the Chamber have already begun and members of various committees have met with representatives of the Government 's Central Policy Unit (CPU) to discuss key issues. The CPU has overall responsibility for the contents of the Policy Address.For the Budget, there is an even earlier deadline for the delivery of any submission that hopes to influence its contents when it is delivered in March next year. The new Financial Secretary Antony Leung has already started consulting Legislators on issues related to the 2002-2003 Budget and talks with all interested parties on the forthcoming Budget will begin in earnest in the next few weeks. The reason I have taken this space to explain the timing and processes involved in preparing these two important Chamber submissions to government is to urge all Chamber members who have issues they believe should be raised with the administration to forward them to the Chamber as soon as possible. The Chamber division with responsibility for drafting both documents is the Economic and Legal Affairs Division under our Chief Economist. Any member with a contribution to make can send it to him by post at the Chamber's office, by telephone on 2823-1242, or facsimile on 2527-9843. Alternatively, they can send contributions by e-mail to perkin@chamber.org.hk Contributions to the Policy Address can be made on almost any subject of concern to business, as the Chief Executive 's annual speech to the Legislative Council every October is usually a wide-ranging document.It reports on the government 's achievements in the past year and outlines its aims and objectives for the year ahead. In some ways, it sets the scene, the overall policy settings, for the Budget in March of the year ahead.As far as the annual Budget submission is concerned, it is generally recognised as one of the most important, if not the most important, annual Chamber inputs to the SAR Government. It should, therefore, have the broadest possible input. If, as a Chamber member, you have any suggestions on what should be included in the 2002-2003 submission, I urge you to communicate them to the Chamber. In the meantime, I hope you have had a fine summer and return to work refreshed and ready to ensure the SAR's further progress and development.
|
| About HKGCC | Member Services | Join Us | Contact Us | Advertising | Jobs |
|
The Chamber's Privacy Policy Statement Copyright © 1998-2008 The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. All Rights Reserved. |