MR YIU SI-WING: President, the Chief Executive has put forward very specific views about policies on social welfare, education and housing in the Policy Address this year. I believe all these will be welcomed by the public.

That said, in respect of tourism, although the Policy Address this year gives a higher level of attention to tourism than last year and there are dedicated chapters, some suggestions are nonetheless still devoid of specific and feasible plans. For example, same as last year, the proposals on the Kai Tak Fantasy project and the development of Lantau Island are still at the study stage. I think that if the delay continues, the development of the tourism industry will be impacted. May I ask the Chief Executive whether he can undertake to formulate specific planning and timetable for the aforesaid two projects within this year?

 

 

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE: President, the Working Group on Convention and Exhibition Industries and Tourism under the Economic Development Commission has provided the Government with many valuable views and comments. In a word, our tourism industry is not without development potentials, meaning that this business will only turn more and more profitable as we continue to make investments. As for the problems we face at present, we certainly must not lower our vigilance. We will continue with the promotion and publicity activities that we should proceed with. However, what is the bigger problem that we face at present? It is about how we can expand our capacity to receive visitors. It involves the medium-term issue of airport runways, and also the issue of scenic spots. And, visitors coming to Hong Kong for shopping also presents the problem of shopping facilities. Such facilities cannot be made available overnight.

 

 

For this reason, we have put forward some suggestions in the Policy Address, such as the development of Lantau Island. Under the original design of the artificial island for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge near Lantau Island ― it was formulated before the commencement of the current-term Government ― there are basically no commercial, catering and tourist facilities on the island, except for a small number of facilities such as convenient stores. The re-designing being done by the current-term Government at present will take time. We hope that up to a million square feet of such facilities can be provided there.

If we can expand and raise our receiving capacity, we can then receive more visitors. The SAR Government attaches a great deal of importance to the development of the tourism industry. As I have said time and again, the per capita contribution of the tourism industry to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lower than that of the financial industry and professional services industries, but the tourism industry provides the grassroots with a lot of employment opportunities. Over the past several years, they have seen income increases in this regard, and we are happy to see this. For this reason, if the Honourable Member or other people from the tourism sector have any views as to what else the SAR Government should do in respect of the tourism industry, we are more than happy to listen to such views.

MR YIU SI-WING: I hope that the SAR Government can really formulate a detailed planning for Lantau Island within this year. In that case, visitors can really be diverted, rather than concentrating in traditional tourist districts. There is the lack of any overall planning for Lantau Island, and apart from that, the Chief Executive has also said that the Hong Kong International Airport will be saturated in a few years, and a third runway needs to be built urgently, so as to maintain Hong Kong's status as a hub and its competitiveness Given the current progress, even assuming
that there is no further hindrance, the third runway can only be completed in 2023 at the soonest. May I ask the Chief Executive whether the Government has any solutions if the Hong Kong airport is saturated before the completion of the third runway?

CHIEF EXECUTIVE: We very much cherish the economic values of the airport, and the SAR Government fully supports the construction of the third runway by the Airport Authority (AA). Regarding this issue, I have held several meetings and discussions with the AA and the relevant government departments. The relevant work has already been launched. We may encounter unforeseeable factors in the future, including the possible opposition of some people and problems relating to environmental protection. But we will spare no efforts to address all these problems comprehensively. At this stage, we will pool our efforts to do a good job in the planning, design and construction of the new runway of the airport. I hope the scenario as described by Mr YIU just now will not arise.