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Enhancing Core Industries
17. Financial services, logistics, tourism and producer
services are the main pillars of our economy. They need
to be reinforced and enhanced.
We should strengthen Hong Kong's role as a major
international financial centre in Asia and the premier
capital formation centre of China. Our leading position
will not be surpassed easily by other cities in the
region. However, we must be alert to the rapid developments
around us. Building on our legal system that upholds
the rule of law, we will further improve our market
structure and corporate governance to meet international
standards. We will promote the development of the bond
market and fund management businesses, and facilitate
the development of new financial products, especially
derivatives. We will not only consolidate our status
as an international financial centre, but also strive
to be a major financial centre of China.
We must maintain Hong Kong's posit ion as a centre
of trading. As the biggest among our pillar industries,
external trade and related services currently account
for one-third of our GDP, and the share is increasing.
Over the past two decades, trade patterns have changed
rapidly from domestic exports to re-exports. Offshore
trade is on the rise, and is destined to become more
pronounced in the future. Apart from further promoting
our re-exports, we will develop Hong Kong as a multi-modal
trade management and operations centre.
The rapid growth in trade denotes the importance
of modern logistics services to Hong Kong. The logistics
industry can bring our existing advantages into full
play and create many jobs. We will foster its growth.
To strengthen our position as Asia's premier transportation
and logistics hub, we will facilitate the development
of Hong Kong International Airport's logistics centre
and express cargo terminal, and build a modern Logistics
Park on North Lantau Island. We will also enhance Hong
Kong's information connectivity, upgrade the necessary
infrastructure, ensure a smooth flow of cargo between
Guangdong and Hong Kong and strive to reduce operating
costs. In addition, we will promote closer co-operation
with other cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to
develop appropriate standards and division of labour,
and to expand business opportunities. Hong Kong's container
throughput has ranked number one in the world for years.
This leading position will be strengthened when Container
Terminal 9 comes on stream later this year. Feasibility
studies on Container Terminal 10 will begin shortly.
We should capitalise on greater economic integration
with the PRD to strengthen our role as a regional centre
for business operations. We will continue to attract
multinational corporations to set up regional headquarters
or offices, and Mainland enterprises to set up branch
offices in Hong Kong. In addition, we will enhance our
convention and exhibition facilities to further reinforce
our function as a regional business operations centre.
Tourism is one of the few sectors that has registered
growth during the present economic downturn, and the
industry continues to show great potential for further
development. The World Tourism Organisation has forecast
that China will lead the world in tourism by 2020, and
Hong Kong will take fifth place, partly because of our
Mainland connections. Our established policy is to promote
the travel industry. A series of new projects, including
the Disneyland theme park, are well underway to further
increase our appeal to tourists. Other efforts include
enhancing cultural, recreational, sports and arts activities
as well as preserving and promoting our heritage and
cultural relics. These will consolidate Hong Kong's
position as a premier tourist destination. The hotel
industry is actively preparing to cope with the anticipated
rapid growth in demand. More than 20 new hotels are
coming on stream in the next three years. These will
create nearly 10 000 jobs. |
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