Provision of charging services for mobile telephones and other small electrical appliances (2014/10/22) 

Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, to a question by the Hon Yiu Si-wing in the Legislative Council today (October 22):

Question:

 It is learnt that the majority of the public places, tourist attractions and hotspots in Hong Kong do not provide visitors with charging services for mobile telephones and other small electrical appliances (charging services), and in this respect, Hong Kong has lagged behind Taiwan, Japan as well as European and American countries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the provision of charging services at the museums, theatres and parks managed by government departments, the visitor centres operated by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the public places managed by private organisations; if it has, of the details (set out in a table); if not, the reasons for that;

(2) regarding the charging services currently provided at the places mentioned in (1), how the authorities will step up publicity and provide more explanatory instructions so that tourists and members of the public can get to know how to use such services; and

(3) whether it has any plan to allocate resources to provide additional charging services at tourist attractions, shopping arcades and other public places for the convenience of tourists and members of the public; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

 My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:

(1) To facilitate instant charging of mobile telephones and small electrical appliances by members of the public and tourists, many convenience stores in Hong Kong provide paid charging services. There are also various kinds of portable battery chargers for sale in the market. Currently, the Hong Kong International Airport, the visitor centres of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, major tourist attractions and a number of shopping arcades provide charging services free of charge. Details are set out in the Appendix.

 The Leisure and Cultural Services Department does not provide charging services at its museums, theatres and parks.

(2) and (3) At present, the above-mentioned places disseminate information on their charging services through various ways, e.g. homepage, service hotline, etc. They will also upgrade their services from time to time to facilitate members of the public and tourists. For instance, the Hong Kong International Airport plans to provide more than 400 new charging points at the Terminal and the SkyPier, the works of which are expected to complete in early 2015.