Policy Address

Mr President, Honourable Members and fellow citizens,

I. Foreword

1. This is my second Policy Address as your Chief Executive. In putting pen to paper for the 2023 Policy Address, I pondered what measures implemented over the past year have been most well-received by our community. I contemplated, too, which areas we should deepen and what new areas and development directions we should pursue. Throughout the process, I felt the weight of my responsibilities on my shoulders.

2. Since I took office, I have led the Government to embrace a result-oriented culture, building an administration with the focus on actions and delivery of results, as well as strengthening our co-operation and team spirit.

3. Over the past year, we have led Hong Kong out of the pandemic, with society returning to full normalcy. We have enhanced governance on various fronts, strengthening co-ordination and improving the civil service management system. We have formulated strategies to tackle the issues of intergenerational poverty, district environmental hygiene, land and housing supply, etc., and we have attained the targeted outcomes. We have rendered support and help to the elderly and the disadvantaged, established Care Teams, enhanced the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme and strengthened public hospital services. We have devised an improved district governance system, and promulgated the Youth Development Blueprint, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint and the Primary Healthcare Blueprint. We have enhanced the talent admission schemes and have been creating strong impetus for growth through more proactive integration into our country's development and expansion of international co-operation. These, and other, efforts have yielded some positive results, but I feel that much more can be done and achieved. Blessed with the strong support of our country and the close connection to the world, Hong Kong is the only world-class city that can capitalise on both the China advantage and the international advantage.

4. In preparing for this Policy Address, I have conducted more than 40 consultation sessions and visited numerous districts over the past three months to gather views from members of the public. I am thankful for their valuable suggestions and grateful for the general recognition of my policy directions and strategies in the community. This Policy Address comprises measures consolidating work introduced over the past year – areas in which we need to delve deeper and wider – as well as new fields and directions we should pursue. It carries my vision and my pledge for the future of Hong Kong. It is a Policy Address for each and every one of us.