LegCo to debate motion on strengthening regional collaboration and jointly building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 30) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on strengthening regional collaboration and jointly building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area.
The motion, moved by Mr Jeffery Lam, states: “That this Council urges the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government to seize the opportunities presented by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area (the Bay Area) to lobby the relevant Mainland ministries and the Guangdong Provincial Government for implementation of various measures, so as to make life more convenient for Hong Kong people (including studying, working, retiring, etc.) in the Bay Area; the HKSAR Government should also strengthen communication and cooperation with the Macao Special Administrative Region Government and the relevant Mainland provincial/municipal departments, in a bid to foster diversified economic development in the region and jointly develop the Bay Area into a first-class international bay area and a world-class city cluster; specific policy measures include:
(1) striving for the Mainland authorities’ further relaxation of the restrictions on investment, business start-up and employment faced by Hong Kong people on the Mainland, so as to facilitate the flows of personnel, goods and capital between both places, thereby increasing development opportunities for Hong Kong people;
(2) promoting the development of creative industries and related enterprises, and inducing top-class Mainland and overseas enterprises, research and development organisations and tertiary institutions to move into the Bay Area, so as to expedite the formation of an innovation and technology industry chain in the region;
(3) exploring the feasibility of allowing Hong Kong people working in the Bay Area to pay tax to either the Hong Kong Government or the Mainland Government, so as to avoid them having to pay double tax;
(4) promoting mutual recognition of professional qualifications, providing support to professionals who wish to seek development on the Mainland, and issuing work permits to overseas technology talents employed by Hong Kong companies, so as to facilitate the flows of talents between Hong Kong and various cities in the Bay Area;
(5) promoting tourism integration in the Bay Area to expedite tourism development of the Bay Area; and
(6) striving for the opening up of more 24-hour boundary control points, so as to deepen exchanges between both places and bring convenience to Hong Kong residents who frequently work in the Bay Area.”
Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Mr Christopher Cheung, Mr Charles Mok, Ms Yung Hoi-yan, Mr Yiu Si-wing, Mr Tony Tse, Mr Michael Tien, Dr Pierre Chan, Mr Wu Chi-wai, Mr Martin Liao, Mr Kenneth Leung, Mr Ho Kai-ming, Dr Chiang Lai-wan and Mr Jimmy Ng will move separate amendments to Mr Jeffrey Lam’s motion.
Mr Wu Chi-wai will move a motion on developing primary healthcare services. The motion states: “That the Chief Executive outlined in her Policy Address the governance vision on primary healthcare, and the Financial Secretary also indicated in the Budget that as the Government was conducting a comprehensive review of the planning for primary healthcare services with a view to drawing up a blueprint, he would set aside necessary resources to fully support this initiative; in order to effectively develop primary healthcare services, this Council urges the Government to:
(1) in the allocation of overall resources for public healthcare services, increase the resources for primary healthcare services, and allocate $10 billion to set up a seed fund to subsidise the public to undergo physical check-ups for prevention of diseases;
(2) in response to the growth of the elderly population, comprehensively review the service model of elderly health centres, and set up additional community health centres in various districts, so that the public can receive the necessary medical and nursing services in the community;
(3) increase the annual amount of subsidy under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme to no less than $3,000, and step up regulation of healthcare service providers, so as to prevent elderly people from being misled into using healthcare vouchers improperly;
(4) develop comprehensive public dental services, including extending the School Dental Care Service to secondary school students and implementing a universal dental care service scheme;
(5) provide half-fee concessions to all elderly people using public healthcare services, so as to prevent them from delaying disease treatment due to financial problems;
(6) make better use of the funds for public-private partnership to implement more screening programmes, so that members of the public can take measures to address their health problems as early as possible; and
(7) relax the application threshold of the Samaritan Fund, waive the requirement that means test must be conducted on a household basis, and lower the proportion of drug costs to be shared by patients.”
Mrs Regina Ip, Professor Joseph Lee, Mr Chan Han-pan, Mr Michael Tien, Ms Alice Mak and Mr Leung Yiu-chung will move separate amendments to Mr Wu Chi-wai’s motion.
In addition, the Chief Secretary for Administration will move a proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) to seek the Council to endorse the appointments of the Honourable Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung as a Permanent Judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching as a non-permanent Hong Kong judge, the Right Honourable the Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond and the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin as non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions to the Court of Final Appeal.
Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo Website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo Website.
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