MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, the Policy Address proposes integration into the national development; as the Chief Executive has said, Hong Kong benefits from its proximity to the Mainland. However, it is a pity that Hong Kong has been affected by the “anti-China disruptor forces” and it is not until today since Hong Kong’s return to the Motherland that the proposal of integration into the national development can be officially put forward. Hong Kong has wasted a lot of time and we must catch up.
As LUO Huining, the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has said, the Central Authorities attach importance to Hong Kong and Hong Kong has a role to play in a series of strategic plans. In fact, the 14th Five-Year Plan, the development of the Greater Bay Area (“GBA”), the “dual circulation” development and the Belt and Road Initiative, etc. can all bring unlimited business opportunities to Hong Kong, and we must grasp them and strive to jump onto this high-speed train of national development. After the country has formulated the development strategy of “dual circulation”, tremendous resources will be invested in the future to expand domestic demand and the Mainland market will become extremely prosperous. If we can enter the GBA market as soon as possible, we will be able to share the fruits of our country’s prosperity in time, and Hong Kong will then have a larger market with a population from the original 7 million to 70 million people, which will truly become a new driving force of our economy.
Moreover, the Policy Address proposes the development of the Northern Metropolis, which will not only open up land and solve the housing problem of Hong Kong people but also directly help Hong Kong integrate into the national development. Given seven cross-boundary control points and the Hong Kong‑Shenzhen Western Railway, the Northern Metropolis will directly link up Shenzhen and Hong Kong, forming a spatial framework of “Twin Cities, Three Circles”, which will enable the two places to work closely together in the areas of the economy, infrastructure, innovation and technology and people’s livelihood, creating synergy through win-win cooperation.
It has been suggested that the Northern Metropolis is similar to the Shanghai Pudong New Area in the 1990s. While the development of Pudong led to rapid development and progress of Shanghai back then, the Northern Metropolis will have the same effect. I think the two models may not be identical but both of them have national support, so I am full of hope for the future of Hong Kong. I hope the Government will put its words into actions and the public will render full support, so that we can create a golden era for Hong Kong and GBA together.
President, concerning the insurance industry, there is now a shutdown in Hong Kong and Mainland customers cannot come to Hong Kong to take out insurance, resulting in a 90% reduction in business. The revenues of many insurance intermediaries have been substantially affected and some of them have even been stretched to the breaking point. I have repeatedly urged the Government to pay attention to the fact that insurance intermediaries who used to pay a lot of tax have been neglected under the epidemic and I urge the Government once again to provide direct assistance to industry players and intermediaries. Apart from direct assistance, the industry also hopes that the Government will strive to implement the establishment of after-sales service centres in GBA which was ready long ago and promote cross-boundary sales of Hong Kong insurance products as soon as possible, so that the insurance industry can expeditiously start to provide services after the epidemic and swiftly recover. In fact, with the development of the insurance industry in GBA, local residents can have access to flexible and diversified healthcare protection and financial products while Hong Kong insurance companies can also invest the premiums in various investment tools in the Mainland to increase investment returns. This is indeed a complementary and mutually beneficial relation between the two places, hoping that “GBA insurance connect” will be implemented soon. Thank you, President.