Dr Jonathan CHOI Koon-shum (Chairman of the 50th terms of office) July 2017
We hope the new governance team will continue to strengthen communication with the industrial and business community, listen to our voices and give appropriate support to vigorously develop the economy and improve people’s livelihood.
On this occasion when we celebrate the important day of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with the Motherland, we congratulate the new Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and officials of the new HKSAR Government on assuming office. During his visit to Hong Kong, President Xi Jinping stressed that Hong Kong should cherish and seize the opportunity to concentrate on seeking construction and development. He hopes that the new HKSAR Government will unite all walks of life in society to adhere to “One Country” and make good use of “Two Systems” to maximize Hong Kong’s strengths in order to open up new horizons for economic development together.
CGCC will, as always, fully support the new Chief Executive and the new HKSAR Government in governing in accordance with the law. We hope the new governance team will continue to strengthen communication with the industrial and business community, listen to our voices and give appropriate support to vigorously develop the economy and improve people’s livelihood, and under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, lead Hong Kong to maximize its unique strengths to further deepen cooperation with the Mainland and international markets, working together to explore new opportunities in new areas such as the “Belt and Road Initiative”, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and regional economic cooperation.
Provide comprehensive industry support
As an economic city, Hong Kong’s top priority is to develop its economy, improve its business environment and enhance its competitiveness. The new Chief Executive also attaches great importance to industrial, commercial and economic development. Speaking at her inauguration, Lam said that the current Government will be more proactive in consolidating and enhancing the traditional industries where Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages, in addition to promoting the innovation, technology and creative industries. We believe the launch of the Bond Connect scheme, the signing of the Investment Agreement and the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation under the CEPA framework and the signing of the framework agreement on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area will bring huge business opportunities for Hong Kong’s long-term development in financial, economic, trade as well as regional cooperation.
We hope that the new HKSAR Government will have a better understanding of the operational difficulties faced by various sectors in Hong Kong and will further increase resources for the innovation and technology industries to promote commercialization of R&D and scientific research results, and actively strengthen cooperation with the Mainland to develop a broader market development space for innovation and technology companies as their derived demand for capital and professional services will also bring huge business opportunities for the financial and other related services.
Strengthen international market ties
China is actively developing blueprints for regional cooperation such as “Belt and Road Initiative” and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, which will provide important impetus for Hong Kong’s long-term economic growth and development of its industrial and commercial enterprises. Given its unique advantage of “One Country, Two Systems”, internationally recognized financial and professional services, as well as extensive business experience of its merchants in the Mainland and overseas markets, Hong Kong is absolutely capable of acting as a “connector”, “operator” and “investor” in promoting regional economic and trade cooperation.
Hong Kong businesses in general may not have sufficient scale and capacity to participate in “Belt and Road Initiative” and East Asian regional cooperation, which currently often involve large-scale infrastructure investment projects. We look forward to the new HKSAR Government helping Hong Kong businesses to more systematically understand various local markets and make use of Hong Kong’s strengths in areas such as finance, professional services, and project operations and management. CGCC staged the Hong Kong Summit on the 11th of this month, with the new Chief Executive, more than 10 ministerial-level economic and trade officials from the Mainland and the East Asian countries, as well as elite entrepreneurs, experts and academics invited to discuss issues concerning East Asian regional cooperation, with the aim to support the HKSAR Government in strengthening external ties and promote together the unique role that Hong Kong can play.
We also hope the HKSAR Government will actively seek the Central Government’s consideration to allow Hong Kong businesses to participate in external business visits in order to support Hong Kong enterprises in “going global together” with the Mainland’s state-owned and civilian-run enterprises to explore business opportunities.
Balance economic development and social harmony
Besides economic factors, a stable social environment is also the key to business operations and growth. While serving in the Government over the past many years, Lam paid considerable attention to the development of Hong Kong’s economy and business environment, sparing no effort in promoting Hong Kong’s in-depth cooperation with neighboring regions.
We look forward to Lam continuing to handle affairs in her “earnest, able and committed” style in her new post as Chief Executive and striving to unite all sectors of society to actively seek consensus and reduce disputes on economic and livelihood issues, including not only taking care of labor rights and interests but also balancing them with the affordability of businesses in dealing with labor issues such as the MPF Offsetting Mechanism and the working hours policy so that all sectors of society can share the fruits of Hong Kong’s development.
