President, first of all, I am very grateful to Mr CHUNG Kwok-pan for proposing this motion, which gives Members a chance to discuss the industrial development of Hong Kong. I have proposed an amendment to Mr CHUNG’s motion mainly because it has not stressed the development of high value-added industries.
The Financial Secretary, Mr. John Tsang, in his Budget today highlighted for the first time the potential structural deficit. He also proposed a series of initiatives to strengthen Hong Kong’s competitiveness in several sectors. BPA endorses the Budget for being pragmatic and forward-looking, which will eventually enhance our competitiveness. The Budget aligns with BPA’s theme of the year – ‘Creativity and Upward Mobility-Brightening Hong Kong’s Future.’
President, Hong Kong is a densely populated place with a large number of vehicles, and large shopping areas in districts such as Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui are particularly crowded during weekends and holidays. As there are few shopping areas over the territory, local people and visitors flock to these places for shopping.
Deputy President, first of all I would like to thank Mr WONG Ting-kwong for proposing the motion on “Promoting the economic development of Lok Ma Chau (LMC) and Lantau Island” today. The original motion urges the Government to expeditiously study the setting up of a business and shopping centre in LMC, not only to capitalize on the geographical advantages and flow of people at the border, but also help to alleviate the pressure of popular shopping spots in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, which are already crowded to capacity.
President, since Hong Kong follows a policy of simple tax rates, its financial management system is relatively simple and clear. We in the business sector have no objection to a reasonable tax regime, but we often find that public funds derived from tax revenue are not put to good use after redistribution.
According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 of the World Economic Forum (the Report), Hong Kong’s position in the overall rankings of the Global Competitiveness Index among 148 countries/economies has advanced by two places to the seventh this year. Despite the advancement in overall ranking, Hong Kong ranked significantly low in several areas (e.g. Hong Kong’s enrollments for primary and secondary education remained at low rankings of 89th and 93rd respectively). The report recommended that Hong Kong needed to improve on higher education (ranked 22nd) and innovation (ranked 23rd)…
BPA welcomes the new measures under the Supplement X to CEPA (“CEPA X”). As Hong Kong’s legal and financial professional services already possess definite advantages, CEPA X renders further assistance to them in anchoring the Mainland market……
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke recently disclosed his timetable for the withdrawal of quantitative easing, leading to speculation that the US may tighten liquidity by raising interest rates…
President, Hong Kong is the most popular city in the world and ever since the inception of Hong Kong as a port, it has relied on its open economic policy to attract overseas capital and talents. In the past two or three decades, Hong Kong has become the door for European and American businesses to … Read more
