MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, as the model of sharing economy very often benefits consumers, we are always under the social pressure to yield. However, this will mean that traders operating under the traditional models will very often suffer great losses. How to strike a right balance is surely the work of the Government. I am inclined to agree with the Government’s suggestion, if the view of the majority is that certain legislation has become obsolete, this should be studied in detail by the relevant authorities, and openly discussed by the society to explore whether there is any ground and need to introduce legislative amendments.
Since issues concerning sharing economy very often involve different sectors, may I ask whether the Government will establish an interdepartmental task force, the membership of which will include representatives from the Department of Justice, the Transport Department or other government departments, to deal with this kind of issues? What I want to stress is that the Government cannot rely on an individual department to handle these issues; they must be handled on an interdepartmental basis.
SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (in Cantonese): I thank Mr CHAN for the supplementary question. To promote innovation and technology development, the Government has already established the Committee on Innovation, Technology and Re-industrialisation headed by the Financial Secretary to discuss and put forward appropriate development strategies and work proposals through a higher-level and inter-bureau approach. I think this is the first step to enhance cooperation and coordination among stakeholders, including the industries. I agree with Mr CHAN’s suggestion of solving the problems through a higher-level and inter-bureau approach and I believe the next-term Government will also consider handling this issue through a higher-level approach.