Leung Chun-ying urges government to smooth way for firms who want to open offices on the mainland
An umbrella group of Hong Kong's professional bodies has urged the government to increase efforts to help the city's professionals open offices on the mainland to make the most of opportunities arising from a cross-border free-trade pact.
Under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, Hong Kong's professionals, including architects, structural engineers and real estate valuators, are qualified to open offices in mainland cities after passing relevant qualification tests.
But Exco convenor Leung Chun-ying, chairman of the Hong Kong Coalition of Professional Services, said professionals were still facing difficulties in opening offices north of the border more than three years after the implementation of Cepa.
He said the biggest obstacles were the frequent changes to requirements for opening offices in mainland cities, adding that different professions had to deal with different ministries when making their applications.
'Under the current situation, the 10-member professional bodies of our coalition have to deal with 10 different mainland ministries,' he said. 'Doctors from Hong Kong have to deal with the Ministry of Health, while Hong Kong accountants have to approach the Ministry of Finance, and so on.
'In Hong Kong, we don't have a single government department to handle the problems facing our professionals when they explore business opportunities on the mainland.'