Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by the Hon Duncan Chiu and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (January 15):
 
Question:
 
     The Government set up the Hong Kong Growth Portfolio (HKGP) in 2020 and subsequently appointed eight private equity firms as general partners (the partners) to make strategic investments for HKGP. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the identification process for HKGP partners, the selection criteria (including whether priority will be given to teams with experience of investing in local innovation and technology projects), and the monitoring mechanism; whether it will regularly review and improve the relevant process, criteria and mechanism; if so, of the areas in which adjustments will be made;
 
(2) as it is learnt that some partners have yet made any investment and have not even set up offices and investment teams in Hong Kong, how the Government will follow up, including whether it will consider recovering the uninvested funds for allocation to other partners; and
 
(3) as the Government indicated in 2022 that HKGP’s returns would be disclosed five years after its operation, and the arrangements for regular disclosure would also be considered by then, whether the Government has given instructions to the partners in this regard, and what follow-up actions it will take, including whether it will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the partners’ investment strategies and performance; prior to the formal implementation of the disclosure arrangements, what measures the Government has in place to ensure that the partners make good use of the funds to maximise investment returns?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Financial Secretary announced in the 2020-21 Budget that ten per cent of the Future Fund, i.e. $22 billion, would be deployed for the establishment of the “Hong Kong Growth Portfolio” (HKGP). The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government had established a two-tier governance framework for the HKGP, i.e. the Governance Committee and the Investment Committee. The Investment Committee formulated the criteria for the selection of investment managers based on the investment criteria set by the Governance Committee, and appointed general partners based on these criteria. The appointed general partners are responsible for identifying projects and investing for the HKGP. Since the inception of the HKGP and until the end of 2022, the Investment Committee has appointed relevant general partners by batches. The appointment arrangements were implemented gradually since 2022 and the investment work commenced in an orderly manner.
 
     In the 2022 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the establishment of the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC) to consolidate the HKGP, the Greater Bay Area Investment Fund, the Strategic Tech Fund, and the Co-Investment Fund, pooling together the relevant resources with the Government playing a leading role in attracting and facilitating more enterprises to develop in Hong Kong. As patient capital, the HKIC carries a dual mandate: supporting the development of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology, as well as strategic industries through investment, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s long-term competitiveness and economic vitality; while seeking reasonable risk-adjusted returns over the medium to long term.
 
     Since its establishment, the HKIC has implemented more than 80 investments, focusing on the themes of hard & core technology, biotechnology, new energy and green technology.
 
     In consultation with the HKIC, the reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
 
(1) The objective of establishing the HKGP is to make strategic investments in projects with a Hong Kong nexus, with a view to reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, trading and innovation and technology centre, as well as enhancing Hong Kong’s productivity and competitiveness in the long run, while seeking reasonable risk-adjusted returns.
 
     Considering that the HKGP focuses on long-term investment, the Investment Committee, in selecting general partners, considered not only their past performance in the private equity and venture capital markets (such as the internal rate of return, multiple of invested capital and loss ratio), but also whether the relevant company has sufficient capacity to identify investments that are conducive to the long-term development of Hong Kong from a number of perspectives, including whether the company concerned is headquartered in Hong Kong or has established an office of a certain size in Hong Kong; whether the company concerned is able to committed to contributing to the long-term development of Hong Kong and putting forward an action plan accordingly; and whether the company concerned has extensive and successful experience in investing in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. The Investment Committee communicated with the appointed general partners and reviewed their investment progress reports regularly.
 
     Since the new team of the HKIC came onboard gradually in October 2023, it has reviewed and updated the investment requirements and arrangements for the different portfolios under its purview, including the preferred mode of making direct and co-investments, with a view to maximising the contribution to Hong Kong from each of the investments.
 
(2) General partners of the HKGP are required to invest in projects with a Hong Kong nexus, although the specific investment strategies vary in terms of focus and hence the pace of investment. At present, all general partners of the HKGP have offices and investment teams in Hong Kong. The HKIC will continue to closely monitor the operations of the four funds under its purview and update the relevant arrangements in a timely manner, with a view to fulfilling the development direction and needs of Hong Kong.
 
(3) As the HKGP focuses on long-term investment, it is appropriate to consider factors such as its long-term return and strategic contribution to Hong Kong when assessing its performance. With the new team of the HKIC coming on board gradually and relevant work fully laid out starting last year, the company will publish its first annual report to announce its operations, including the progress of its investment in the HKGP, in 2025. read more

     Following is a question by the Dr the Hon Ngan Man-yu and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (January 15):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that “Yu Lan Festival of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Community” (“Yu Lan Festival”), which has a history of over a century, is an important cultural event for the Chiu Chow natives in Hong Kong and has even been inscribed onto the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). However, some groups organising “Yu Lan Festival” have relayed that the scale of “Yu Lan Festival” has been reduced after the epidemic, and the transmission of Yu Lan culture is facing severe challenges. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the following information on “Yu Lan Festival” held in venues borrowed from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) or the Hong Kong Housing Authority in various districts in the past five years: the content of the event (including whether any Shengong opera was performed), the number of participants, the number of participating groups, the scale of the event, and the venues borrowed;
 
(2) whether it has considered, by following the example of the country in establishing a regime for representative inheritors of national ICH, recognising and supporting a group of inheritors who have profound attainments and influence in the Yu Lan cultural sphere, so that they can pass on relevant skills and experience through the apprenticeship system, workshops, etc.;
 
(3) whether it has considered incorporating Yu Lan culture into school curricula or extra-curricular activities, and organising seminars, exhibitions and workshops on Yu Lan culture, so as to popularise the public’s understanding of the origins, customs and underlying cultural significance of “Yu Lan Festival”, thereby enhancing the community’s sense of cultural identity;
 
(4) whether it has plans to step up its support for ICH items such as “Yu Lan Festival”, including setting up a dedicated fund for organising relevant activities, nurturing cultural inheritors, and collating and protecting relevant information, and to devise a reward mechanism to encourage the organisation of Yu Lan cultural activities which combine innovation with tradition, thereby increasing the community’s attention to and participation in Yu Lan culture; and
 
(5) of the measures in place to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration between “Yu Lan Festival” and other cultural, tourism and commercial projects, such as by working with tourism organisations to launch Yu Lan culture-themed tourism itineraries or working with designers to develop relevant cultural derivatives, and relaxing the relevant regulations on hawking to allow more snack stalls to hawk during “Yu Lan Festival”, so as to attract more people?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The reply to the question raised by the Member is as follows:
 
     “Yu Lan Festival of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Community” was inscribed onto the third national list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in 2011, and the first Representative List of the ICH of Hong Kong (Representative List) in 2017. Later on, “Yu Lan Festival” was inscribed onto the updated Representative List, which was promulgated in December 2024. Besides “Chiu Chow Tradition”, “Yu Lan Festival” also includes “Punti Tradition”, “Hoi Luk Fung/Hoklo Tradition” and “Boat Dwellers’ Tradition”. In consultation with the Housing Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Ngan Man-yu is as follows:
 
(1) Event organisers may apply for leisure venues (e.g. hard-surface pitches) managed by the LCSD for non-designated uses, including the holding of “Yu Lan Festival”. Moreover, organisers may apply for holding such activities in venues in the Housing Authority’s public housing estates (such as pitches or open area). The leisure venues and venues in public housing estates for holding “Yu Lan Festival” and Shengong operas in the past five years (from 2020 to 2024) are set out in Annex 1 and Annex 2 respectively, and the relevant statistics are tabulated as follows:
 

Year	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Number of applicant organisations
LCSD	9	7	9	36	39
Housing Department (HD)	1	1	2	7	7
Number of participants
LCSD	6 000	3 000	5 700	32 780	49 200
HD	1 000	1 000	1 100	3 180	3 280

Notes:
(i)The approval of applications, activities and number of participants/scale relating to “Yu Lan Festival” during 2020 to 2022 were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and/or the individual circumstances of the applicant organisations (such as the organisations withdrawing their applications). 
(ii)The figures for number of participants are the anticipated number of participants provided by the organisations in their applications. The LCSD and HD do not maintain the statistics on the final number of participants.
 
(2) and (3) The existing school curriculum has covered the learning elements related to Chinese culture. For example, the Primary Humanities curriculum has included the learning of the origins, customs and the splendid Chinese culture of traditional Chinese festivals, as well as heritage conservation and activities of historical inheritance. Students can understand the importance of protecting and inheriting Chinese culture, at the same time recognise that Hong Kong is a society with cultural integration and learn to respect different cultures and lifestyles. As one of the ICH items (traditional customs and festivals) in Hong Kong, the “Yu Lan Festival of the Chiu Chow Community” is also included in the junior secondary History curriculum. Students can deepen their understanding of the relationships and traditions among the Chiu Chow people living in Hong Kong through the Festival.
 
     In addition, as proposed by the Chief Executive in the 2024 Policy Address to promote the safeguarding and passing on of ICH, the Government will develop a mechanism and criteria in 2025 for recognising the bearers of the items on the Representative List of ICH of Hong Kong in a bid to acknowledge and nurture high-calibre ICH bearers. Training and cultural exchanges will also be strengthened to engage the young generation in the passing on of ICH and raise the viability of Hong Kong’s ICH.
 
(4) and (5) Apart from organising public and educational activities on “Yu Lan Festival”, the ICH Office of the LCSD also encourages the community to take part in organising activities related to Yu Lan culture by providing funding support to individuals and organisations of the community through the Intangible Cultural Heritage Funding Scheme (ICH Funding Scheme), so as to enhance support to “Yu Lan Festival”. Since its launch in 2019, ICH Funding Scheme has funded various organisations and individuals to conduct a number of projects related to “Yu Lan Festival”, including Yu Lan Cultural Festival, “Yu Lan Festival”, as well as forum, research and publication, exhibition, workshop, guided tour and virtual museum related to Yu Lan culture. The ICH Office will actively collaborate with the Tourism Commission and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) to strengthen the publicity for Hong Kong’s ICH, including Yu Lan culture, through different local and overseas channels, so as to enhance the integration of culture and tourism.
 
     In terms of tourism, the Characteristic Local Tourism Incentive Scheme established and funded by the Government has successfully encouraged the travel trade to develop tourism itineraries and products with distinctive themes, including those on history and culture, such as in-depth tours with the theme of “Yu Lan Festival”.
 
     Besides, HKTB has introduced the Pilot Scheme for Characteristic Local Tourism Events (Pilot Scheme) since January 2018 to provide funding support for non-profit-making organisations registered in Hong Kong to stage events that showcase local characteristics and have the potential to become attractive events with tourism appeal in Hong Kong. Since the launch of the Pilot Scheme, HKTB has funded a number of events with local characteristics, including the Yu Lan Cultural Festival organised by the Federation of Hong Kong Chiu Chow Community Organizations Charity Funds Limited. 
 
     The 2024 edition of the Yu Lan Cultural Festival leveraged modern technology and innovative storytelling to promote traditional culture, including Festival Treats Competition, 3D photo-taking spots, virtual reality experiences, etc. Apart from introducing some new elements in the culinary, tea tasting as well as cultural booths and exhibitions, the Festival hosted flash mob photo-taking activities across various venues commemorating “Yu Lan Festival” in town. It also published a book on Yu Lan culture in partnership with a local illustrator and organised the “Live Action Role Playing”, a trendy and engaging form of entertainment, to attract participation of both visitors and locals.
 
     We will continue to promote traditional festivities and authentic local culture to visitors worldwide through various channels. In particular, HKTB introduces different traditional festivals, including “Yu Lan festival”, on its one-stop travel information portal website Discover Hong Kong.
 
     As regards relaxing requirements to facilitate the setting up of food stalls at “Yu Lan Festival” venues, individuals wishing to cook/reheat pre-prepared food at temporary stalls at the venues only need to obtain a temporary food factory licence from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD). Hawker licence is not required for this purpose. The FEHD is committed to providing flexibility to applicants as far as possible, with the vetting process of temporary food factory licence application generally completed within 12 working days. read more

     â€‹Hongkong Post announced today (January 15) that, as advised by the postal administration of the United States, due to the impact of severe weather and wildfires, mail delivery services to areas with postcodes 90001&ndas… read more

     The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and the Innovation and Technology Commission today (January 15) invite the market to submit expression of interest (EOI) for the Innovation and Technology Industry-Oriented Fund (ITIF).
      
     The Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address to set up a $10 billion ITIF to channel more market capital to invest in specified emerging and future industries of strategic importance, with a view to building the innovation and technology ecosystem in a systematic manner. The ITIF represents the Government’s revamped approach in innovation and technology industries investment so that market forces can be fully harnessed to scale up investment, with the focus placed on specified industries of strategic importance. The invitation for EOI outlines the preliminary proposed ITIF framework to facilitate the market to express their opinions, which covers the amount of capital that must be committed by a strategic investor, eligibility requirements of a fund manager and the key terms of a sub-fund, etc.
      
     Interested companies shall return the completed EOI by email to itif-enquiry@itc.gov.hk on or before March 3, 2025 (Monday). The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau will hold a briefing session on the EOI invitation on January 20, 2025 (Monday). For details, please refer to the webpage of the ITIF (www.itc.gov.hk/en/fund_app/itif/index.html).
  read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (January 15):

Question:

     As a famous landmark and a natural treasure of Hong Kong, the Victoria Harbour attracts a lot of sightseeing tourists. However, there are views that the ancillary tourist facilities along the Victoria Harbour are inadequate, and some sightseeing vessels touting custom at the Kowloon Public Pier have caused chaos and nuisance while some are even involved in illegal carriage of passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of complaints and reports received by the government departments concerned (including the Marine Department and the Police) in each of the past two years about issues revolving around touting custom and management of sightseeing vessels on both sides of the Victoria Harbour (in particular the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront area); the number of inspections conducted and enforcement actions taken by the departments concerned in respect of such situation, as well as the number of prosecuted and convicted cases;

(2) whether improvements will be made promptly by the authorities to address the issues revolving around the management of waterborne sightseeing activities, inadequate ancillary tourist facilities, etc. at the Kowloon Public Pier; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) of the number of passenger trips and occupancy rate of the various water taxi routes in the past two years; whether regular reviews of such service have been conducted by the authorities in terms of publicity, routes, ancillary facilities for disembarkation, etc., with a view to turning such service into a major waterborne sightseeing attraction and tourism project in Hong Kong;

(4) following the commissioning of the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) and the increase in waterfront facilities on both sides of the Victoria Harbour, whether the authorities will explore increasing the calling points for water taxis commuting between the two sides of the Victoria Harbour, so that they can serve as temporary transport support to facilitate crowd dispersal during large-scale events held in KTSP or waterfront areas along the Victoria Harbour; and

(5) whether the authorities will, from the tourism perspective, conduct comprehensive review and planning for the potential of aquatic tourism at the Victoria Harbour and the ancillary facilities there, including, among others, upgrading the tourist facilities at piers and disembarkation points, stepping up the dissemination of real-time information on aquatic tourism itineraries to tourists, as well as offering packages and promotions incorporating aquatic tourism alongside tourism activities held at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour, thereby enriching the characteristics of Hong Kong’s tourism; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     In consultation with the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB), Development Bureau (DEVB), Marine Department (MD) and Transport Department (TD), my reply to the question raised by the Hon Kenneth Leung is as follows:

(1) According to the records of the past two years, the MD received a total of six complaints related to the non-compliance of sightseeing vessels in the vicinity of the Kowloon Public Pier (KPP), whereas the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) received none. During this period, the MD conducted a total of 77 patrols and law enforcement actions in the waters near both sides of the Victoria Harbour, including 11 joint operations with the HKPF. At the operations, the MD instituted 12 prosecutions relating to violation of marine legislations. Among them, 11 cases were convicted, and the legal proceedings of the remaining case are still underway. The HKPF also conducts regular patrols in the area and will take appropriate follow-up actions if relevant complaints are received.

(2) The Government and the tourism trade attach great importance to offering pleasant travel experience to visitors so as to attract more visitors to Hong Kong. In this regard, the Tourism Commission (TC) has launched various tourist-friendly and facilitation initiatives, including installing signage in different places in Hong Kong to facilitate visitors’ journeys to major tourist attractions and tourism routes. The Government is also dedicated to improving the public toilet facilities at major tourist attractions. Among others, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), after taking into account the TC’s view and the utilisation rates of public toilets, completed the refurbishment works of the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Concourse Public Toilet (the toilet) in February 2019. The FEHD has also provided attendant service at the toilet as well as deep cleansing team to enhance the cleansing services and maintain the toilet’s cleanliness. Besides, the Travel Industry Authority (TIA) has also been closely monitoring the situation of inbound tour groups’ participation in Victoria Harbour tours, including deploying manpower to monitor their embarkation and disembarkation at the Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1.

     At present, the daily operation and management of public piers (including the KPP) is handled by different government departments in accordance with their respective scope of work. Regarding the KPP, the TD is responsible for monitoring its usage, and will arrange regular on-site surveys to review its usage and maintenance status; while the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) is responsible for the structural maintenance and repair work of the public piers. 

     In addition, to safeguard navigational safety, apart from daily patrols and law enforcement actions in various parts of Hong Kong waters (including the area around the KPP), the MD has also been working closely with the HKPF to combat illegal carriage of passengers, overloading, violation of marine legislations, etc.

     The Government will improve the design and use of landing facilities based on the conditions of public piers and the opinions of stakeholders.

(3) and (4) The water taxi is mainly of a sightseeing and tourism nature, providing recreational services for the public and tourists travelling across the Victoria Harbour. Since the commissioning of the water taxi in July 2021, the Government has been in close contact with the service operator to review and strengthen water taxi services. 

     Regarding the routes, the water taxi only offered a route plying between Hung Hom and Central (via Tsim Sha Tsui East (TSTE)) at the early stage of its operation. Since November 12, 2021, to tie in with the opening of the M+ at the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), the water taxi added a short-working route plying between Central and TSTE (via West Kowloon). From January 14, 2023, this route had been adjusted to operate between TSTE and West Kowloon (via Wan Chai and Central). To attract more tourists to use water taxi services, the operator has enhanced its services starting from October 6, 2023 by merging the two original routes into the “TSTE – Central (via Wan Chai/West Kowloon)” route, and increased the frequency from only one or two sailings on Saturdays and/or Sundays and public holidays to seven sailings per day.

     The patronage of each water taxi route in 2023 and 2024 is tabulated as follows:
 

Route	Operation Date	Frequency	Patronage
			2023	2024
Hung Hom – Central (via TSTE)	From July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2023	One sailing on Saturdays	2 904	N/A
TSTE–West Kowloon (via Wan Chai and Central)	From January 14, 2023 to September 30, 2023	Two sailings on Saturdays	1 101	N/A
TSTE – Central (via Wan Chai/West Kowloon)	From October 6, 2023 to present	Seven daily sailings (The first two sailings on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, berth at the West Kowloon berthing point)	17 958	113 552

     As for publicity, the TD has been actively assisting the water taxi service operator in cooperating with the WKCD Authority, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and other government departments to promote water taxi services, including promoting the water taxi at the HKTB’s Visitor Centres and website, strengthening signage and providing relevant service information in tourist areas such as Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui. In addition, regarding the facilities, the water taxi service operator has set up a ticketing counter near the TSTE water taxi berthing point (near K11 shopping mall) to facilitate the handling of tourist enquiries and ticket purchases and promote water taxi services. The TD would work with the service operator to closely monitor the operations of water taxi and changes in passenger/visitor demand, so as to review and enhance water taxi services based on actual situation.

     Compared with ferries (including water taxis), using other road transportation, such as railways and buses, enables more effective dispersal of large crowds in a short period of time. The Government will review the crowd dispersal arrangements for individual large-scale events in detail, and consider factors such as pedestrian accessibility at the pier, the condition of the pier berthing facilities, ferry service frequency and passenger demand, so as to assess the actual need for using ferry.

(5) Victoria Harbour and the harbourfront, as Hong Kong’s treasure, have always been popular leisure spots for residents and visitors. Currently, in-harbour sightseeing tours are offered by some travel agents for visitors, allowing them to enjoy the views of Victoria Harbour and a different travel experience. Some sightseeing vessels also offer catering service, enabling visitors to enjoy delicious food and the stunning harbour view at the same time and experience the exceptional charm of Hong Kong. 

     The HKTB has been promoting aquatic tourism through different promotional activities and channels, including consolidating a series of itinerary guides and information on aquatic sightseeing tours on DiscoverHongKong.com website to facilitate visitors’ planning of their visits.

     In addition, the Government will continue to make better use of the harbourfront promenades and water bodies to create more events and tourism experiences. To add vibrancy and dynamism to the night sky of Victoria Harbour, the HKTB will continue to organise pyrotechnic and drone shows featuring different festivals and cultural contents.

     The CSTB, together with the HKTB, will launch a new edition of “A Symphony of Lights” (SoL) light and sound show to showcase the spectacular views of Victoria Harbour through novel audio-visual effects. At the same time, with the support of the MD, the CSTB launched a two-year trial scheme in March 2024 to allow cruise ships berthing at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal to choose to transit through the central part of Victoria Harbour from 7pm to 10pm every day. The arrangement aims to boost cruise tourism development by leveraging the iconic scenery of Victoria Harbour and SoL show. The general public and tourists are able to appreciate on the two sides of Victoria Harbour the sailing through of international cruise ships, thereby appreciating Hong Kong’s position as an international cruise hub. After reviewing the trial arrangement, the MD adjusted the transit window to 6pm to 6am the next day in November 2024 with an aim to attract more cruise ships to visit Hong Kong. We will keep under review the scheme’s arrangement, and will consider regularising the arrangement subject to its smooth implementation.

     On top of that, the Government has also been enhancing public pier and landing facilities, including the construction of a public landing facility and a waterfront promenade at Lei Yue Mun to enhance the connectivity of Lei Yue Mun waterfront area, with a view to further enhancing the attractiveness of Lei Yue Mun as a popular tourist attraction. The works are expected to be completed by end January 2025. Besides, the Government is constructing the Southern Landing Facility outside M+ of the WKCD to enhance the area’s ancillary transport facilities. The construction works is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2025. The landing facility will be open for use by public vessels and water taxis, offering residents and visitors an additional transportation option when visiting the WKCD.

     In collaboration with the TC, the Harbour Office of the DEVB is prepared to explore with the providers of aquatic tourism services and the operators of harbourfront event venues in the Victoria Harbour to strengthen co-operation in the promotion of tourism activities held at the relevant harbourfront venues, with a view to maximising the synergy effect. In respect of hardware facilities, as mentioned in the reply to part 2 above, the CEDD will carry out works to improve existing public piers if necessary. Additionally, if the bill introduced by the DEVB into the Legislative Council last month to amend the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance (the Ordinance) is passed, small scale reclamation in the Victoria Harbour supporting the construction of harbour enhancement works, such as piers and landing steps, may be exempted from the “presumption against reclamation” in the Ordinance according to the streamlined mechanism, which will help facilitate implementation of the relevant works. read more