The Chamber supports the issuance of a set of guidelines to help businesses in the relevant sectors avoid potential damage to underground telecommunications lines. At the same time, such guidance should be practicable and not overly prescriptive. The Chamber has also put forward recommendations on other aspects of the draft guidelines while noting that more time should have been made available for collecting feedback.

The rise of family offices provides considerable opportunities especially for international financial centres such as Hong Kong, which offers considerable advantages whether in terms of managing assets and investments or as a place to live. In its recommendations to the government, the Chamber has identified a number of policy areas that should be addressed if Hong Kong were to respond to the needs of global families and compete as a location of choice.

The Chamber supports the extension of the Competition (Block Exemption for Vessel Sharing Agreements) Order (“the Order”) in its current form for another term of five years. We believe that the existing Order and proposed period of extension will provide a stable and predictable regulatory environment for and in sustaining the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s shipping and logistics sector– a major pillar of our economy. We also continue to advocate for the removal of the market share limit for vessel sharing agreements currently imposed under the Order for the reasons set out in our response.