Appropriation Bill 2014(2014/4/9)

Deputy President, the theme of the Budget this year is competitiveness. With the emergence of China as the second largest economy in the world and that the economies of Europe and North America have yet to recover, changes have happened in the set-up of world economy. In this new environment, we have to ponder over the question of what competitive edges we have and what are our inadequacies, and what adjustments we should make to adapt to the new order so that we can stay being competitive. This is a question we should think carefully indeed. If we are to enhance our competitiveness, the first thing we should do is to understand ourselves. Hong Kong has little land and a dense population. We have few natural resources and there are limitations on our development. For many years we owe our success to the fighting spirit of Hong Kong people, our rule of law and the free flow of information. On top of these, there can be no denying that we also benefit from the economic development and policy favours of the Mainland, such that we can make better use of our talents and geographical advantage and hence play a part in the international arena.

If Hong Kong is to sustain its development, apart from pursuing self-enhancement, we have to make good use of the advantage in resources of the nearby places. In the case of tourism, for example, last year we had a total of 54.3 million visitors. Of these Mainland visitors took up 75% and overseas visitors 25%. And among the overseas visitors, long-haul visitors took up a very small proportion, which is only 8% of the total. We have heard Members state on different occasions the hope that the proportion taken up by overseas visitors, especially those from Europe and North America, can be raised. However, if we look at the tourist resources in Hong Kong, we will find a heavy reliance on the Disneyland and Ocean Park. But such spots are also found in countries in Europe and North America. If Hong Kong just relies on the East-meets-West culture, the food and shopping, there is no way we can attract a large amount of visitors from Europe and North America to come here for spending and travel. There is no way we can make them stay longer either. If we can break our geographical limitations in perception and work together with Macao and the major cities in Guangdong Province, if we can complement the unique character of the three places in tourism, and if we can join hands and advertise for multi-destination itineraries, so added to these the opportunities of development brought about by the commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail, the overall appeal of Hong Kong will be enhanced, especially to long-haul travellers from Europe and North America. This example shows that if we were to pursue development, we must never chart a lone course. We should seize the opportunities available in regions around us in time and continuously upgrade our competitiveness in the market. It is only then that we can remain unbeaten in the world economic arena. Any advocacy for Hong Kong's independence and isolation, and resistance to co-operation with our neighbours, especially the Mainland, will only drive us down a dead end.

Deputy President, recently an Assessment Report on Hong Kong's Capacity to Receive Tourists was completed and in the face of this great surge in Mainland tourists, we can see no practical measures devised in the Assessment Report and in this year's Budget on the diversion of these tourists. Recently, the Chief Executive has agreed to study the control of the surge in the number of Mainland tourists. We hope that apart from making an assessment on our capacity to receive tourists, the authorities can also put in more resources to study the tourist districts in Hong Kong and residents affected by tourists in order to understand the tourists' shopping habits, areas of activities and choice of transportation in these districts. Scientific data should be collected to find out the problems and methods should be identified to solve the problems in a focused manner and do a good job in diverting the tourists.

In any case, as a hospitable tourist city, Hong Kong should provide a comfortable, convenient and pleasurable environment for the tourists. We must never make others mistake that we discriminate against Mainland tourists and want to select tourists. At present, many people hold different views on the excessive number of Mainland tourists. As a person born and raised up in Hong Kong, I can certainly appreciate the nuisance and inconvenience caused by the concentration of tourists to the residents of certain districts. I have always been concerned about the problem. Therefore, I have gone to places like To Kwa Wan, Hung Hom, Tsim Sha Tsui, Repulse Bay and the Lok Ma Chau border control point, and so on, together with Members of this Council from various sectors as well as people from the tourism industry, to understand the situation on a number of occasions. We hope that some practical solutions can be found. And with the help of relevant government departments, we managed to obtain some preliminary results recently.

As the representative of the tourism industry, I am duty-bound to explain to Members the contribution of the tourism industry to the economy and employment of Hong Kong. I will try my best to analyse the problems objectively and with facts and state the pros and cons in the hope that people from all quarters can work together to identify a solution. However, I have noted recently that some radical people have put the blame on the Individual Visits Scheme for all the problems in transport, rent, public order, and so on. These people staged protests against Mainland visitors and these activities are irrational and uncivilized. They harassed the visitors and the shops. This severely damages our international reputation. I am sure Hong Kong people understand that these are only some radical actions by a small number of people and what they do are not representative of the majority view. But this has tarnished our image as a civilized and hospitable place. I hope these people who caused the troubles can think carefully and cease doing anything to the detriment of Hong Kong. Deputy President, the tourism industry is a pillar industry of Hong Kong, but few measures were introduced by the Government in support of the tourism industry in the last few years. In this year's Budget, we can finally see certain plans of support for the expansion and development of tourism. These plans include the launch of six plots of land in the Kai Tak Development Area for the construction of high class hotels; provisions amounting to $45 million and $50 million over the next two and three years to the Hong Kong Tourism Board on drawing convention and exhibition visitors and holding mega events; introducing 3D projection mapping technology to showcase the mega events, and so on. All these are pragmatic initiatives. I hope that the Government can continue to commit additional resources to supporting the development of tourism.

As for the artificial island at the landing point of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, no planning has been undertaken until now. At last, a study was launched on the commercial development of the superstructure and underground space of the border control point there. It is better late than never. This is an important first step undertaken to build a bridgehead economy with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. We welcome the Budget setting aside $60 million for a study on that. However, this is obviously belated planning. Even if the construction works begin immediately after the completion of the study, we have to wait after the commissioning of the Bridge in 2016 before the works can be completed and the facilities open for use. By then part of the clientele from the Pearl River Delta would have been lost to Hengqin and Macao on the other side of the coast. It would be an uncertainty if the tide can be turned in our favour. I hope that the Government can learn from the experience and lesson this time around and avoid making the same mistake again.

Deputy President, on plans to take forward the proposals made by the Chief Executive in the Policy Address, it can be said that this year's Budget scores a fair pass. With respect to the development of human resources, input for pillar industries, healthcare and assistance to the elderly, the Budget has set aside a considerable amount of resources as support. This should be recognized. But with respect to the input in infrastructure and education expenses found in appendixes to the Budget, there is no increase at all. But there is even reduction. I hope that the Government can take account of the actual situation and make prompt adjustments to meet the needs of the public.

Moreover, the highlight of this year's Budget is land planning. For a long time, the shortage of land in Hong Kong has led to high property prices and grievances among the people, which is an undeniable fact. In the land sale programme this year, the Government has increased substantially the land supply to provide as many as 15 500 residential units. This amount is the largest in 14 years. With respect to mid-range and long-term planning, the Budget proposes to earmark funding amounting to $650 million in the next five years for the relevant Policy Bureaux and departments to enhance land planning. Also, the Government is prepared to fully develop the three areas near the border, namely, North East New Territories, the Loop in Lok Ma Chau, and Hung Shui Kiu. Various plans are devised to solve the problem of the shortage of commercial and residential land in Hong Kong, namely, the East Lantau Metropolis to be built on Lantau Island, the artificial island at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and land reclaimed from the sea. This project will furnish the basis for the development of related industries and create a large amount of jobs. I hope the Government can really turn its words into actions.

Deputy President, each year when the Budget is presented, the people and various sectors across the community are concerned about what aspects of government expenditure are directly related to them, as well as whether or not positive responses are made to their demands. In order to meet public demand, the Government has since 2007 used part of the surplus to introduce one-off relief measures. For seven years in a row, candies are handed out. This has led to a habitual expectation among the people for these candies. In this year's Budget, not only are these candies reduced but the Government has also issued a warning that it is expected that "a structural deficit would surface in seven years' time". The criticisms made and discussions on the financial management philosophy of the authorities in the community have surpassed the concern about the contents of the Budget. Many people do not agree with the advance warning issued by the Government. They think that that since the Government possesses such a large amount of surplus, and provided that investment made is proper, fiscal deficits will not appear so soon. They think that a deficit warning is unfounded and it is an excessive worry. The Budget states clearly that "Manpower, land supply and an ageing population are the major constraints to Hong Kong's future development." These three factors really present the greatest crisis before Hong Kong. Of these factors, the most terrible is the problem of population ageing.

An imbalance in population structure will lead to insufficient manpower that will in turn undermine our competitiveness and income. Even if the economic situation is good, when there is not enough manpower to support economic development, it would be difficult to create wealth for society. In that case, there will not be enough resources to support various kinds of social welfare and a structural deficit is inevitable. In the end, the Government will land itself into a predicament from which it cannot get out. In the case of Japan, for example, in 1992 the debts owed by the Japanese Government were 66.5% of the GDP. Last year, it rose to almost 230%. There is an increase of new debts of more than 160% of the GDP in such a short span as 21 years. The chief cause for such an increase is population ageing. I hope that, for the sake of the next generation, the Government can adhere to the principles of "keeping expenditure within the limits of revenues" and "prudent financial management". Now the Government has set up the Working Group, it can gauge the financial situation of the Government and assess whether the various investments and expenditures will meet the requirement of cost efficiency in society. This would be a responsible approach to take.

Deputy President, Hong Kong faces a host of structural financial problems of an entrenched nature and they cannot be solved in a short time. Some Members have forewarned that a filibuster battle will be waged because they consider that the Government has failed to meet their requirements. I wish to advise these Members that using such a method of wasting public money and  consuming Members' time in order to exert pressure on the Government will not help solve the problems. It will only add to grievances in society. I hope these Members can think about it and refrain from doing anything harmful to others
while not beneficial to themselves.

With these remarks, I support the 2014 Budget