The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (April 29) visited the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with the colleagues thereof, and toured the area to survey the latest developments of the Energizing Kowloon East (EKE) initiative.
Accompanied by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, and the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky Lau, Mrs Lam visited the EKEO beneath Kwun Tong Bypass near the promenade to receive a briefing from the Head of the EKEO, Ms Amy Cheung, on the latest progress and achievements of the EKE initiative. With the vision to build the second core business district in Hong Kong, the initiative has borne fruit over the past 10 years. As a case in point, the commercial land supply in terms of gross floor area in Kowloon East has seen a rise by 70 per cent to the current 2.9 million square metres from 1.7 million sq m in 2012, and upon completion of the major planned developments, including the action areas in Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong, would further increase to a total of over 4 million sq m. By then, its scale would be on par with that of the core business district in Central. Kowloon East has been a major source of office supply in Hong Kong over the past 10 years and would continue to be so in the short to medium term.
Mrs Lam proceeded to the venues of the Fly the Flyover Operation adjacent to the EKEO. She was pleased to learn that, upon the continuous stabilisation of the local epidemic, the restaurants and urban farms there have improved their business and many citizens along the way were carrying out different leisure activities. She then received at the promenade a briefing on the progress of the proposed walkways across Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter and along Wai Yip Street to understand the development concept of Walkable Kowloon East, and visited the refurbished Hoi Bun Road Park.
Mrs Lam said, "Time flies. The EKE initiative is celebrating its 10th anniversary. I still remember 10 years ago when I attended the EKEO's inauguration, I remarked that under the EKE initiative, 'not only do we have to facilitate the transformation of Kowloon East into another core business district of Hong Kong, we also hope that this core business district would be a go-to destination for the public to work happily, stroll leisurely and enjoy casually'. I am pleased to note that over the years, the EKEO has been steadfastly upholding a visionary, innovative, co-ordinated and integrated operation mode. It has been proactively co-ordinating public and private development projects in the area to realise the development potential of the land there. It has also been pursuing a visionary 'place-making' approach to enhancing the pedestrian environment, improving public space and holding various activities. These efforts have gradually transformed Kowloon East from a traditional industrial area into a uniquely attractive core business district.
"I thank the previous and current Heads of the EKEO, namely Mr Ling Kar-kan, Mr Raymond Lee, Ms Brenda Au and Ms Amy Cheung, who are all town planners, for upholding the Government's vision for a quality city and leading their teams in taking forward the development of Kowloon East. I have every confidence that the EKEO will continue to co-ordinate the efforts of the Government, business sector and community to help Hong Kong bring in talents and investments, reinforcing the important status of Kowloon East as Hong Kong's second core business district, and exploiting Hong Kong's unique advantage as an innovative city and international metropolis."
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