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2022/10/19
HKGCC Welcomes Broad-ranging Policy Address

For Immediate Release

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) welcomes the Chief Executive’s maiden Policy Address today, which provides a targeted and fresh approach to address a broad range of challenges affecting Hong Kong, most notably attracting more enterprises and talent to the city.

In laying out his vision, the Chamber agrees with Chief Executive John Lee that it is time for Hong Kong to start a new chapter of development for the city. The Chamber lauds the establishment the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC) and the launch of the $30 billion Co-Investment Fund, which are significant steps to proactively support the development of strategic industries in Hong Kong, as well as to encourage more foreign enterprises to set up in Hong Kong.

Together with the establishment of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) and a Talent Service Unit, the Chamber believes these will facilitate the implementation of relevant policies and communication with various stockholders. Assigning a dedicated team in the Government’s Economic and Trade Offices overseas and in the Mainland to help recruit targeted enterprises and talent will also put our network abilities to better use.

The Chamber is also pleased to see that the Government has taken a whole-of-government response towards tackling Hong Kong’s human capital needs by enhancing various existing employment schemes and regulations. These include the launch of a new Top Talents Pass Scheme, which should help make it more appealing and easier for talent to live and work in Hong Kong, despite the immediate deterrent of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

Hong Kong’s ambitions to develop into an international innovation & technology (I&T) centre provides a sound strategy for our future growth. The Chamber welcomes the Government’s emphasis on enhancing the ecosystem and funding for a $10 billion scheme to support research and development in universities and commercialization of the R&D results.

The Chamber also supports various measures to enhance our position as a global fundraising platform, including promotion of RMB-denominated investment, green financing, carbon trading, mutual market access arrangements, etc. Providing tax exemptions to eligible family offices to set up or expand their operations will also reinforce our reputation as a global hub for asset management.

With housing affecting every person in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive’s broad range of strategies to address land and housing supply quickly with ambitious targets are to be lauded. We are also pleased to see that a number of solutions, both strategic and technical, that the Chamber proposed in our Policy Address Submission to the Government to expeditiously increase supply, restore affordability and shorten public housing waiting time have been adopted.

The Chamber also welcomes further support for SMEs, including raising the BUD Fund ceiling, extending the principal payment holiday arrangement and concessions of government fees and charges. We look forward to the convention and exhibition industry rebounding with support for more than 200 exhibitions through a new incentive scheme next year.

However, as welcome as these initiatives are, the most important and effective measure to help businesses is to remove all anti-epidemic restrictions. To maximize the effectiveness of relaunching and telling the Hong Kong story, the Chamber hopes that the Government will announce as soon as possible a roadmap for rolling back Covid-related restrictions to enable the public and businesses to plan ahead.

 


Media inquiries: Please contact Ms Mabel Chan at 2823-1278 / [email protected]

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