Submissions and Reports

The Chamber supports the proposal to introduce a Known Consignor Validation Scheme in Hong Kong that is consistent with new international air cargo safety obligations. In addition to supporting the proposed implementation of third-party operated screening facilities at off-airport locations, the Chamber also suggests conferring “Known Consignor” status to shippers that are already accredited under the U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) programme and/or the World Customs Organization’s Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) scheme, given the similarities in safety requirements.

As the International Maritime Organization has set a sulphur cap of 0.5% for shipping emissions by 2020, the Chamber urges the Government to establish Hong Kong a LNG-ready port that is capable of supporting the shipping industry as it makes the transition to cleaner fuels. Measures put forward include provision of the necessary infrastructure, sufficient trained personnel and relevant policies.

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 HKSAR Government’s initiative to embrace and adopt technology more widely as an accelerator to develop Hong Kong into a smart city, and emphasize the fundamental importance of Smart Government and Smart Citizen among the six themes for the development of an innovative and sustainable smart city.

The Chamber supports the Government’s initiative to embrace and adopt technology more widely as an accelerator to develop Hong Kong into a smart city (or a “livable city”), and the selection of Kowloon East to trial run some feasible initiatives.

The Chamber is supportive of the proposal to introduce a one-stop IT platform for the submission and processing of all business-to-government documents and would like to see this implemented as soon as possible. On the other hand, it is not in favour of replacing the existing arrangement with post-shipment declaration with the requirement for pre-shipment declaration.

The Chamber supports the HKBCF Island project to take advantage of the synergistic effect brought about by the existing transport infrastructure, tourism and leisure facilities, and cultural resources in the Lantau Island and strategically develop the Island into a bridgehead economy.