Policy Address by Hong Kong SAR’s Chief Executive John Lee: Reform for Enhancing Development and Building Our Future Together
- Written by Media Outreach
HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 16 October 2024 - John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today (October 16) announced his third Policy Address entitled "Reform for Enhancing Development and Building Our Future Together", setting out a range of initiatives to create new impetus for economic development, improve people's livelihood and enhance their quality of life. Mr Lee said, "In this Policy Address, I will continue to follow through the 'four proposals' put forward by President Xi Jinping in his important speech delivered on July 1, 2022. I will also outline our vision and objectives for reforms and changes, as well as the related key measures and key performance indicators. 
Hong Kong SAR’s Chief Executive John Lee’s third Policy Address is themed “Reform for Enhancing Development and Building Our Future Together”.
"Reform is a continuous process. Over the past two years, my team and I have focused on economic growth and on improving people's livelihood through development, with the well-being of the people of Hong Kong close to our hearts. This Policy Address will deepen our reforms and explore new growth areas." Consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international financial, shipping and trade centre Hong Kong has established strengths as an international centre for finance, shipping and trade, which are closely intertwined and can be developed in a synergistic and complementary manner. On the financial front, the Policy Address sets out the strategic development of Hong Kong as an international financial centre on all fronts. It strives to reinforce Hong Kong's status as the world's largest offshore Renminbi business hub, enhance the asset and securities markets, and develop Hong Kong into an international gold trading market through measures such as building world-class gold storage facilities and strengthening the trading mechanism and regulatory framework. This will in turn drive demand for related services such as collateral and loan businesses, opening up new growth areas of the financial sector. On the shipping side, the existing Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board will be reconstituted into the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Development Board. Additional funding will be provided to enhance its research capabilities, strengthen its Mainland and overseas promotional work and step up manpower training, encouraging more Mainland and overseas maritime service enterprises to establish presence in Hong Kong, promoting the sustainable development of Hong Kong's maritime industry. The Government will advance the development of Hong Kong into a green maritime centre, while at the same time exploring the introduction of tax concessions and facilitate international commodity exchanges to set up accredited warehouses in Hong Kong, so as to establish a commodity trading ecosystem, especially for the storage and delivery of non-ferrous metal products, further promoting the development of Hong Kong's maritime and trading services. In respect of the trade sector, the Government will establish a high-value-added supply chain service centre. Through measures such as enriching a high value-added supply chain services mechanism and enhancing export credit services, as well as making good use of the new opportunities brought about by the Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Agreement on Trade in Services, the Government will seek to attract Mainland and overseas enterprises to set up their headquarters or corporate divisions in Hong Kong. The Government will continue to vigorously expand Hong Kong's global economic and trade networks, with particular emphasis on strengthening Hong Kong's economic and trade ties with and marketing efforts in emerging markets, so as to enable Hong Kong to exert a greater role in the country's opening up to the world. Moreover, the Government will reduce the import duty on liquor, fostering trading of liquor and boosting development of high value-added industries. The Policy Address injects greater vitality into the Hong Kong economy.
Develop new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions The core element of new quality productive forces is to achieve high quality economic development through technological empowerment. The Government is striving to expedite Hong Kong's development into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre. On top of the additional investment put in over the past two years, a $10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund will be set up to guide more market capital to invest in specified emerging and future industries of strategic importance, including life and health technology and artificial intelligence. The Government will also launch the I&T Accelerator Pilot Scheme to attract professional start-up service providers to set up accelerator bases in Hong Kong, fostering the...