Submissions and Reports

The Chamber welcomes the Government’s initiative to update the Talent List to address Hong Kong’s acute talent shortage situation and sustain a competitive economy, and puts forward recommendations on the necessary high-skilled professions for inclusion in the same.

The Chamber welcomes the HKLRC’s proposals to introduce a bespoke law that deals with the proliferation of cyber-dependent crimes given the risks of such illegal acts on Hong Kong’s businesses. The Chamber has also called for a balanced approach in the design of the new law so that other than the objective of protecting public interest, consideration should also be given to upholding business’ legitimate needs.

HKGCC supports the Government’s policy objective of improving health and safety at work. However, we believe that it can be achieved more effectively by means other than significantly raising penalties, and doubling the period for summons from six months to one year as proposed.

The nature of the consultation, which concerns copyright owners and users, mean that the Chamber was unable to achieve unanimity when responding to some of the Government’s proposals to update Hong Kong’s existing copyright law. As such, the Chamber has called for a balanced approach that takes into account the rights of owners and users, while reflecting views from both perspectives on such proposals as adopting an exhaustive approach on copyright exceptions and introduction of a judicial site-blocking mechanism.

The Chamber supports the introduction of a Producer Responsibility Scheme on Plastic Beverage Containers to reduce waste and create a circular economy in Hong Kong. The Chamber agrees with the general aspects of the scheme but suggests certain areas be adjusted to promote broader buy-in and participation.

The Chamber agrees with the Government that there is the need to address the abuse of SIM Cards for criminal purposes, but suggests that consideration should also be given to attendant issues such as data privacy implications and efficacy of a mandatory registration system. In light of the social impact that such regulatory changes may bring, the Chamber recommends that efforts be made to better define the rights and responsibilities of stakeholders, namely, users, operators, and regulators under the proposed programme.

The Chamber agrees with the Law Reform Commission’s proposals to relax the current prohibition of outcome-related fee structures for arbitration to enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness as an arbitration centre, but suggests that a phased approach be adopted to the implementation of flexible fee structures. Due consideration should also be given to the protection of the interests of smaller businesses opting for such a means of dispute resolution.

In response to an invitation by the LegCo Panel on Commerce and Industry to submit views on innovation and technology development and re-industrialization policy in Hong Kong, the Chamber has put forward a number of recommendations. These include, among other things, enhancing existing regulations and funding programmes, grooming local and attracting international talent, and creating synergies within the Greater Bay Area through a division of labour approach.

The Chamber has all along been supporting the Government’s initiative to embrace and adopt technology more widely to develop Hong Kong into a smart city. While the business sector would like to see prompt and concrete actions of a smart government, we therefore urge the Government to be more swift and resolute in breaking through the bureaucratic routine and take the lead to scale up the momentum immediately.

The Chamber supports the proposal on the reallocation of the frequency spectrum 3.4 – 3.7 GHz band from fixed satellite service to mobile service. We believe the arrangement can enable the adoption of 5G services in Hong Kong, facilitate our development as a smart city, foster Internet of Things initiatives and achieve parity in mobile service standards with Mainland China and other jurisdictions.