President, the Policy Address has clearly mapped out the long-, medium- and short-term planning for the supply of land. With regard to the long-term vision, it proposes to develop by reclamation in the New Territories, develop underground space as well as country parks with no ecological value, with a view to increasing future land supply. Under the current political environment, the fact that the Chief Executive has put forward such controversial land proposals before his departure well reflects his readiness to shoulder responsibilities for future land development. In respect of short- to medium-term housing policies, the current-term Government is determined to achieve an overall increase in housing supply. However, owing to factors such as difficulties in land resumption and filibustering in the Legislative Council, though the housing production target might not be met, a foundation has been laid for the next-term Government to continue with the housing production programme. All in all, I opine that in handling the housing problem, this Policy Address is committed and accountable.

On the contrary, in the case of Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government has recently signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to develop high-tech research in the Loop. However, the opposition party described this development as Hong Kong being integrated with the Mainland, and Members representing the Information Technology functional constituency even refused to show their support on the pretext of inconvenient transport links.

The opposition camp is trying to exploit the mentality of regional protectionism to stop Hong Kong from progressing and remain in seclusion. And yet, when we were overtaken by our neighbouring countries, the opposition camp in turn attacked the HKSAR Government for being incompetent and inept. I hope members of the public who have been hoodwinked can take a good look at the situation, cast aside their prejudice, put the overall interests of Hong Kong in the first place and put forward constructive proposals in an objective manner. President, the current-term Government has stressed in each of its policy address over the years that housing is a top priority, but there has been little mention of commercial and hotel sites. Recently, of the six hotel sites adjacent to the Cruise Terminal in the Kai Tak Development Area ("KTDA"), the Planning Department proposed to rezone three of them into residential sites, and only one residential site adjacent to the Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter will be rezoned for hotel development. It is expected that the number of hotel rooms will be reduced by 1 000 as a result.

With regard to the Kai Tak Fantasy project under the KTDA project, this year the Government will invite a tender for the Kai Tak Tourism Node in the area to develop the so-called third largest man-made attraction. The tourism-related facilities in the area include a cruise terminal, the Kai Tak Sports Park, etc. Upon the completion of the Kai Tak Sports Park, which can accommodate 50 000 people, a lot of performances, concerts and major sports events will be held, thereby generating a huge demand for hotel accommodation.

The originally scheduled six hotel sites in the vicinity are excellent in the sense that they overlook the Victoria Harbour and may attract high-spending tourists.  The provision of six quality hotels will create economies of scale, thereby enhancing our high-end reception capacity. The tourism sector expects those sites to be put to the market as early as possible. If there are only three adjacent hotel sites, the economies of scale will be greatly reduced. I think that the Government should not arbitrarily rezone the hotel sites into residential sites simply due to a fall in tourists in recent years. As we may be aware, the construction of hotels takes time and the duration from tender invitation to project delivery may require at least three or four years. It would be too late if we identify hotel sites when there is an upsurge in visitor arrivals. I strongly request the Government to carefully consider the proposal of rezoning three hotel sites, and when necessary, consider rezoning certain sites for service apartment hotel development.

President, the Policy Address proposes to change the Wan Chai Sports Ground to convention and exhibition venues and convert the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to provide trendy facilities, in order to fill the gap of insufficient local recreation facilities. As far as I understand, local residents and Legislative Council Members have expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed change of the Wan Chai Sports Ground to convention and exhibition venues, worrying that this might have an implication on the community amenities. I hope the Government will ensure proper changeover and promptly provide replacement facilities for the affected residents and athletes. At present, the Wan Chai Sports Ground is an important competition and training ground. According to the Government's plan, upon the commissioning of the Kai Tak Sports Park, mega performances and major games previously held at the Hong Kong Stadium will be held at the Kai Tak Sports Park. By then, the Hong Kong Stadium will assume the current role of the Wan Chai Sports Ground. Nonetheless, in order to achieve this, it is necessary for the Hong Kong Stadium to do some touch-up works and provide more running tracks. I hope that the Administration will, in light of the needs of the sports sector, carry out the conversion works and arrange timely coordination to facilitate the smooth transition of venues.

President, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") will be commissioned in the third quarter of next year. Although the Hong Kong Section is only 26 km long, there will be a total of 15 platforms in the Hong Kong Terminus to connect with the national express rail network in the future, with a view to integrating with the Mainland high-speed rail network  which stretches for 19 000 km. Upon the commissioning of XRL, the journey time from Hong Kong to Guangzhou will be reduced from 100 minutes to 48 minutes; it takes about eight hours to Beijing; about six hours to Kunming and about four hours to Xiamen. A population of nearly 100 million will be within the reach of a four-hour journey time from Hong Kong's West Kowloon Terminus, covering provinces such as Fujian, Hunan and Wuhan. In future, the planning and construction of China's high-speed rail include a

procedures relating to immigration, customs and quarantine can be completed within the designated area of the West Kowloon Terminus. The co-location arrangements are not unprecedented. While Britain and France are both independent sovereign countries, clearance procedures of both sides are completed in the Paris station of the high-speed train (the Eurostar) which runs through the English Channel. As the co-location arrangements involve complicated legal and operational issues, they must be actively dealt with by the two governments. Therefore, the Government should proactively liaise with the Central Authorities and, having regard to international precedents, expeditiously implement the co-location arrangements for XRL within the framework of the Basic Law.

With regard to the implementation of the co-location arrangements, Hong Kong people and enterprises are most concerned about which cities are directly accessible by XRL upon its commissioning, and the respective journey time required. We hope the Government can make the best use of time and liaise with Mainland railway authorities, such that the implementation timetable, routing and frequencies of XRL can be made public as early as possible. In that case, enterprises may make investment plans and explore business opportunities at their earliest convenience, having regard to the routing and frequencies of XRL. Travel agencies may also work on the ticketing process and travel itineraries, whereas members of the public can make their travel plans earlier. Some members of the public told me that upon the commissioning of XRL, they can travel directly from Hong Kong to Fujian to visit their relatives in the Mainland without having to interchange midway. As we all know, for provinces such as Fujian and Shantou alone, there are millions of people having certain connections with Hong Kong, which is a huge number, and even Mr CHAN Hak-kan said he is one of them. Therefore, I think XRL is essential to Hong Kong people.

President, since the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HKZMB") will commission soon, adjustments should be made to the routes of cross-boundary coaches in the light of the shortened journeys. At present, more than 600 cross-boundary coaches travel via the Shenzhen Bay Port ("SBP") every day and about half of them will then go to the western regions in Guangdong, such as Zhongshan, Shunde, Panyu, Jiangmen and Xinhui via the Humen Bridge. It is expected that following the commissioning of XRL, passengers will mostly travel to and from Hong Kong via the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities, and the number of passengers using SBP will be significantly reduced. The Government proposes to issue 300 cross-boundary coach quotas for HKZMB, among which 200 are newly issued quotas and the remaining 100 will be transferred from coaches serving SBP. Yet, members of the trade opine that the problem cannot be fully addressed if only 100 quotas are transferred from SBP. The reason is, upon the commissioning of HKZMB, it is estimated that the majority of passengers travelling to the western regions of Guangdong will use the new boundary crossing instead. Therefore, they suggest that the Government should transfer another 200 quotas from SBP to the new boundary crossing, which will add up to a total of 300, so as to provide convenience for more travellers. The commissioning of HKZMB will provide greater convenience for members of the public and travellers, thereby facilitating the interaction among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. It is hoped that the Government will expedite the progress of the project and strive to complete it as scheduled.

President, I so submit.