Leung Chun-ying today announced measures aimed at boosting competitiveness, attracting overseas talent and easing the housing crisis, in his third policy address. In his speech he pledged to do more for needy retired residents, earmarking HK$50 billion to help them. He also suspended the Capital Investment Entrant scheme from tomorrow. His speech followed a pro-democracy protest in the chamber by pan-democrats, which saw several members carried out by security guards. CY LEUNG'S CLOSING SPEECH : “Hong Kong’s development into a world metropolis is the combined effort of many generations. We should treasure what we have achieved. The rule of law is the cornerstone of our prosperity and stability. Everyone is equal before the law, and everyone must obey it. There is no excuse for anyone to break the law. “The Government and I will spare no effort to create favourable conditions for various trades, different local communities and people from all walks of life to start new ventures, sustain business and seek employment. We should, however, remain vigilant at all times. We should guard against any acts which will jeopardise our competitiveness, tarnish our reputation, or undermine Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. “To secure the implementation of democratic universal suffrage, we must respect one another and seek common ground while accommodating differences. Neither the community nor the Government will accept or tolerate any unlawful acts." “I would also like to thank this Council, the [district councils], statutory and advisory bodies as well as members of the public for your support and collaboration,” he concludes. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION: Starting from next year the salaries of district councillors will be increased by 15 per cent, and each councillor will have a new provision of $10,000 per term to cover expenses for duty visits. Currently, the salary of district councillors is HK$22,090 per month. The increase would take this figure to HK$25,400. In the coming five financial years, the Government will provide an additional annual funding of $20.8 million for community involvement programmes to further strengthen the support for district councils in promoting arts and cultural activities in the districts. CULTURE AND SPORTS : On cultural policy, Leung pledges to continue to support the West Kowloon Cultural District project, as well as opening up more space for arts groups and artists. Plans include converting the vacant Tai Po Government Secondary School into an arts development centre, and reserving certain floors at an Aberdeen site for the Arts Development Council to the promote arts and culture. As part of efforts to support retired sportsmen , Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the government would encourage retired athletes to serve as school sports programme co-ordinators. He also announced the provision of over $28 million subsidies to support disabled athletes . "To help athletes adapt to a life no longer occupied with training and sports events and embark on new ventures, the government will encourage retired athletes to serve as School Sports Programme Co-ordinators and enhance the sporting culture in schools. "[The Hong Kong Sports Institute] will introduce an elite athletes performance recognition scheme this year that will give a one-off bonus to full-time athletes who formally retire in or after 2015." HEALTHCARE : Leung reveals details of a plan to develop a testing centre for Chinese medicine to be managed by the Department of Health. The testing centre will specialise in the testing of, and scientific research on, Chinese medicine with a view to setting reference standards for the safety, quality and testing methods of Chinese medicine, he says. It will also embark on hi-tech research with a view to strengthening the capability for the quality control and identification of Chinese medicine. A herbarium on Chinese medicine of international standard will be set up. “Through various platforms and close collaboration with the relevant international and Mainland organisations, the testing centre will help promote the HKCMMS and the reference standards for testing Chinese medicine as authoritative international benchmarks to pave the way for the internationalisation of Hong Kong' Chinese medicine industry,” ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION: CY Leung says air quality monitoring results from 2010 to 2014 reflected a continuous improvement in Hong Kong's overall air quality, with annual average concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and respirable suspended particulates dropping by 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. New legislation to require ocean going vessels to switch to cleaner fuels is expected to be tabled this year. Leung says low emission zones in Causeway Bay, Central and Mong Kok will be implemented at the end of this year. The zones will require franchised bus companies to operate only low-emission buses. In addition, franchised bus companies will try out single-deck electric buses in mid-2015. On environmental conservation , Leung says the government is formulating the first “Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Hong Kong” to step up conservation efforts and support the sustainable development of Hong Kong in the next five years. The government is also preparing to set up a built heritage conservation fund, and to designate the waters around the Brothers Islands, between Tuen Mun and Lantau, as a marine park. Leung says HK$150 million will be allocated to extend the Cleaner Production Partnership Programme, which encourages Hong Kong-owned factories in Guangdong to adopt cleaner production technologies. On food waste : Over HK$10 million was allocated to support NGOs in collecting surplus food last year, Leung says. This year, around HK$100 million will be earmarked to implement waste-reduction projects, with one-third of the fund allocated to projects relating to food waste management and reduction. Leung announces a new five per cent savings target in electricity consumption for government buildings in the coming five years. A Recycling Fund will be introduced to upgrade the operational capabilities of the recycling industry, increase the quantity of the recyclables recovered, raise the quality of treated materials and establish a stable outlet for recycled materials. EDUCATION : The Education Bureau will renew the curriculum in science and mathematics and renew the curriculum of Chinese history and world history, in an attempt to reinforce students' interest in China and broaden their global outlook. Subsidies will also be given to primary and secondary students to go on at least one exchange trip. Additionally, a pilot scheme to provide financial and professional support for local public sector schools and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools will be launched in a bid to progressively double the number of primary and secondary sister schools in Hong Kong and the mainland to about 600 pairs within the three years commencing 2015-16. A HK$300 million Youth Development Fund will be set up to support innovative youth development activities which are not covered by existing schemes, including subsidy in the form of matching funds for NGOs to assist young people in starting their own business. Details such as eligibility criteria, approval procedures and allocation priority of the fund will be devised after consulting the Commission on Youth. The Education Bureau will progressively increase the graduate teacher ratio in public sector primary schools from the current 50 per cent to 65 per cent in the 2017-18 school year. WOMEN: The appointment rate of women to government advisory and statutory bodies should be raised from 30 per cent to 35 per cent, Leung says, in an initiative to encourage women to participate more in public decision making. All bureaux and departments must refer to the Gender Mainstreaming Checklist developed by the Women'Commission and ensure they apply the concept of "gender mainstreaming" when formulating major government policies, he says. Gender mainstreaming is a global strategy advocated by the United Nations to achieve gender equality. It seeks to ensure that women and men have equitable access to, and benefit from, society’s resources and opportunities. POVERTY ALLEVIATION, ELDERLY CARE AND SUPPORT FOR THE DISADVANTAGED: CY is rolling out his blueprint for the city’s welfare policy for the year. He said since the government had “set the first-ever poverty line” in 2013, the overall poor population of Hong Kong had dropped below one million, to 970,000, for the first time. “The poverty rate fell to a five-year low of 14.5% in 2013. Our work in poverty alleviation has started to deliver results,” he said. The government will earmark $200 million to continue the short-term food assistance service for two more years up to the end of 2017. The Commission on Poverty will conduct focused studies on ways to further improve retirement protection and facilitate the upward mobility of young people from grassroots families through education, training and employment A first-hire-then-train Navigation Scheme for Young Persons in Care Services launched last year is to provide 1,000 places in the coming few years. The scheme aims to encourage young people to join the workforce in the field of elderly and rehabilitation care services. Enrolment is expected to open in the second half of this year, Leung said. On services for the mentally disabled Leung said the government would: increase the number of psychiatric beds at Siu Lam Hospital; strengthen manpower in psychiatric care, explore a pilot project for the former mentally ill to support those under going treatment and rehabilitation; place social workers in community centres for mental wellness. On retirement protection CY said he was not optimistic a consensus on retirement protection financing arrangements could be easily reached and a public consultation would be conducted in the latter half of this year. “Overseas experience shows that universal retirement protection schemes operating on the "pay-as-you-go" principle are bound to result in financial problems, entailing a long and painful financial adjustment process that usually involves extension of retirement age, reduction of retirement payment or upward adjustment to contribution rate. “We cannot rely solely on the Government for universal retirement protection. It is also a shared responsibility of both employers and employees. However, public discussions reveal that both employers and employees resist additional contributions or additional taxation. We are therefore not optimistic a consensus on retirement protection financing arrangements can be reached. “Retirement protection is a very important social issue. In the coming few months, the Commission on Poverty will devise a framework and set out the details for a public consultation in the latter half of this year. I look forward to rational and pragmatic discussions with a view to arriving at a community consensus.” HK$50 billion will be earmarked to help the needy after retirement. On transport concessions for the elderly: Leung said in order to create an elderly-friendly environment, the Government is pressing ahead with the extension of the HK$2 public transport fare concession scheme to green minibuses, starting from the end of March. On overseas doctors : The Hospital Authority will continue to recruit overseas doctors by way of limited registration to practise in Hong Kong. “To address population ageing, we are actively examining the option of increasing the number of publicly-funded degree places in medicine, dentistry and other healthcare specialties in the next funding cycle for universities,” CY added. Leung laid out three strategies on boosting Hong Kong's labour force : 1. To release local labour potential, by extending retirement age of civil servants and providing training to facilitate older people stay in the job market. 2. To strengthen childcare services. From 2015-16 onwards, the government will gradually increase the subsidised places of extended hours service provided by child care centres and kindergarten-cum-child care centres to some 6 200. 3. Helping the underpriviledged to find jobs. On boosting employment opportunities for new migrants and ethnic minorities the government plans to expand places in training courses. “In 2015-16, the Employees Retraining Board will offer 1,300 and 800 places in dedicated training courses for new arrivals and ethnic minorities respectively, to enhance their employment opportunities." MANPOWER: The Capital Investment Entrant Scheme will be suspended from tomorrow. Thousands of mainland millionaires have migrated to Hong Kong through the capital investment entrant scheme, which since 2003 has allowed people to gain residence in the city by investing no less than HK$10 million in the local markets. The scheme had attracted nearly 40,000 people, of whom more than 90 per cent were from the mainland, official data showed. TRANSPORT: "The Government will conduct an in-depth study on public transport arrangements in Hong Kong. In tandem with the railway network expansion, we will review the roles of other public transport services. We will also continue to pursue bus route rationalisation," CY says. HOUSING: CY Leung has now turned to one of the hottest political potato issues for Hong Kong. “Housing is the most critical of all livelihood issues in Hong Kong The current-term Government is not only determined to avert the supply-demand imbalance progressively, but is also confident and capable of achieving this," he says. A new type of subsidised housing will be introduced for sale to current public rental housing tenants and those waiting for public rental housing allocation to buy at discount rates, CY announces. He pledges the administration will provide more opportunities for lower-middle income citizens to become homeowners. He suggests launching a pilot scheme for "green form" applicants - mostly public rental housing residents - to buy flats built by the Housing Authority which were originally intended as public rental homes. The announcement confirms the South China Morning Post's report on November 27 that the government planned to roll out another layer of subsidised housing for people with incomes over the threshold for public rental flats, but who cannot afford Home Ownership Scheme [HOS] flats. On the issue of land supply : "What Hong Kong lacks is not land, but land that is developable. The difference lies in the need for land planning and development. The process of land planning and development takes time. "Hong Kong experienced a long period of economic downturn and saw a declining property market after the Asian financial crisis. The Government scaled back the speed and scope of our planning and development of land, and did not foresee the huge demand for developable land as a result of the eventual economic recovery. "A substantial amount of land was zoned for non-development uses such as country parks to improve the environment. We also lowered the development intensity of land newly planned for development. These are causes of the serious shortage of housing supply that we have been facing in recent years." Spelling out the projects to secure short-term and medium-term supply that include Kai Tak Development Area, he also announces a policy move that will have implications for private developers. He said: “The Government is also actively considering making use of private developers’ capacity to expedite the relevant developments. We believe that private sector participation will help facilitate the development of tourism and commercial facilities.” He adds: “The Government will relax outdated restrictions and streamline procedures to facilitate land development. For example, in last year's Policy Address, I announced lifting the development moratorium on the area close to Wah Fu Estate for public housing development and the redevelopment of Wah Fu Estate to provide about 11,900 additional PRH units in total. A Pilot Scheme for Arbitration on Land Premium has been launched to facilitate agreement on land premium for lease modification or land exchange applications, with a view to expediting land supply for housing and other uses.” On brownfield sites : "The 'brownfield sites' in Hung Shui Kiu, Yuen Long South and New Territories North have been used for years for purposes incompatible with the surrounding environment. The Government is studying feasible measures, including accommodating some of the users in multi-storey buildings and taking the 'brownfield sites' inside the Hung Shui Kiu NDA as a pilot case, with a view to taking forward the development of NDAs. On land reclamation : "Reclamation outside Victoria Harbour is an important source of long-term land supply. The cumulative environmental impact assessment of the western Hong Kong waters is largely completed. Taking the assessment findings into account, the Government plans to commence a planning and engineering study on the Lung Kwu Tan reclamation at Tuen Mun in 2015. On construction , CY says the government will grant HK$100 million to the Construction Industry Council for it to train skilled workers, in an effort to ease the severe labour shortage in the field - a problem blamed for the surging construction costs and housing prices in recent years. Reiterating his administration's determination to identify more land for both residential and commercial development in his policy address, Leung says "a considerable number" of the 150 sites earmarked for rezoning since last yaer would be available for residential use between 2014-15 and 2018-19 and are capable of providing over 210,000 residential units. The government will also commence a study on the land use of the Lam Tei Quarry and its adjoining area in 2015. THE ECONOMY: CY warns against underestimating the importance of economic growth. “Taking the continuous economic development and full employment in recent years for granted, some people have underestimated the importance of economic growth. This calls for vigilance. People's livelihood depends on the economy, and fostering economic development is vital to improving people's livelihood. Sustained economic development will provide our young people with more and better employment opportunities and chances of upward mobility, increase people'income, and enhance the Government's financial capacity in addressing problems relating to housing, poverty, ageing population and environmental protection. "We must maintain Hong Kong'competitiveness in both the international and Mainland markets, and forestall any act that harms the investment and business environment.” He pledged to maintain the role of Hong Kong as a “super-connector” between the mainland and the rest of the world. He also said the government would continue to assist Hong Kong enterprises to develop the mainland market. “The service sector accounts for more than 90 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product and is a very important component of the economy. In December 2014, the HKSAR Government and the Ministry of Commerce signed the Agreement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Achieving Basic Liberalization of Trade in Services in Guangdong, ushering in the basic liberalisation of trade in services between Guangdong and Hong Kong. “We will continue our earnest efforts to seek further market liberalisation in the Mainland with a view to achieving basic liberalisation of trade in services between the entire Mainland and Hong Kong by the end of this year.” To further boost economic cooperation and trade with the mainland, Leung said the government set up a liaison unit in Liaoning Province in December last year. He said another liaison unit in Shandong province will be set up in the first half of this year, and upon the full operation of the Wuhan Economic and Trade Office another would be set up in the central region of China. On Hong Kong's infrastructure and development , he says: "The Government is carrying out infrastructure work at the runway and south apron of the former airport to tie in with the hotel development in the "hotel belt" adjacent to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. We will encourage developers to include conference facilities in these hotels. "Both theme parks are pressing ahead with expansion plans. The operating results of Hong Kong Disneyland are improving, and we will commence discussion on the Phase 2 development of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort with the Walt Disney Company. "The Government has commissioned a consultancy study to assess the future demand for convention and exhibition facilities in Hong Kong, and will consider constructing a new convention centre above the Exhibition Station of the Sha Tin to Central Link around 2020." He said the government had plans to build a new convention centre in 2020. A consultancy study is being conducted to assess the demand for convention and exhibition. “The Government has commissioned a consultancy study to assess the future demand for convention and exhibition facilities in Hong Kong, and will consider constructing a new convention centre above the Exhibition Station of the Sha Tin to Central Link around 2020.” On innovation and technology , CY Leung proposes injecting HK$5 billion into the Innovation and Technology Fund. In addition he said the city would continue to foster the development of professional services. “The development of professional services has been gaining momentum. Take legal, accountancy, auditing, architecture and engineering services as an example. “The average annual growth of their value added was 9.9% from 2007 to 2012, far exceeding the overall economic growth of 4.6% over the same period. In 2012, professional services contributed as much as 4.7% of our GDP, equivalent to the contribution of the whole tourism industry, and provided nearly 200 000 job opportunities." On Hong Kong's film industry : "We will continue to promote the development of Hong Kong'film industry through a four-pronged strategy. We will: 1. encourage more local film production; 2. nurture production talent; 3. promote film appreciation among students and young people to build up audiences; and 4. showcase and promote the brand of 'Hong Kong Films' in the Mainland, Taiwan and overseas markets, facilitate the participation of local films in international film festivals, and help drive Hong Kong'development as a film financing platform in Asia." INTRODUCTION: CY Leung kicks off his speech saying: "Democratic development and economic progress in Hong Kong present a host of opportunities, but there are choices we have to make. On constitutional development, we have to choose between implementing universal suffrage and a standstill; on the economy, between progress and stagnation; and on people'livelihood, between reforms and clinging to the status quo." He goes on to say Hong Kong should capitalise on its advantage as part of China to develop the economy. “As part of China, we benefit from the rapid development of and enjoy preferential treatments from our country; at the same time, we benefit from having a system that is different from other mainland cities. By capitalising on these advantages, not only can we expedite our growth, but we also continue to expand our existing lead industries and foster new industries to meet the development needs of the mainland and abroad. Through the diversification of our industries, we can create a more prosperous economy that provides our young people with the opportunity to put what they have learnt to good use and allow all to realise their potential.” On democracy he says: "We fully recognise the aspirations of our young students for democracy and their concerns about political reforms. University students are the future pillars of society and deserve our care. Hence, there is all the more reason for us to commend them for their merits and correct their mistakes. They should be guided towards a full understanding of the constitutional relationship between our country and Hong Kong so that the discussion on constitutional development would not be fruitless." Leung urged the public to be on the alert over any groups advocating ideas of self-determination. He pointed to a cover story about self-determination in last February’s issue of the University of Hong Kong’s Undergrad magazine – published by its student union, entitled "Hong Kong people deciding their own fate". "’Undergraduates and other students, including student leaders of the Occupy movement, have misstated some facts,” Leung said. “We also ask political figures with close ties to the leaders of the student movement to advise them against putting forward such fallacies.” He adds: "The rule of law is the foundation of Hong Kong. The democratic development of Hong Kong must therefore be underpinned by the same. As we pursue democracy, we should act in accordance with the law, or Hong Kong will degenerate into anarchy." 11.15am: CY has started to give his speech, which has the title "Uphold the rule of law; seize the opportunities; make the right choices". The sub-heading is "Pursue Democracy, Boost the Economy, Improve People’s Livelihood". The lengthy speech will be broken up by a five-minute intermission, Legco president Jasper Tsang said earlier. 11.10am: After eight minutes of protest the meeting has been suspended by the chairman. A tussle is now going on between pan-dem protesters and security guards, and Raymond Chan and Albert Chan are being physically carried out of the chamber. 11.05am: Seated pan-dems are refusing to leave the chamber and there is much shouting. President of Legco Jasper Tsang Yok-sing has told demonstrators to leave the chamber and security guards are on the scene. One pan-dem has been removed. CY's address is now several minutes late in starting. 11am: Pan-democrats in the chamber have launched a yellow umbrella protest and are holding up two banners saying "CY Leung step down" and "We want true universal suffrage". The government's live stream of the policy address has cut away from the chamber to a blank screen. CY Leung at the lectern is waiting for the protest to end. 10.50am: CY Leung enters the Legco building at 10.50am, where he is greeted by Legco president Jasper Tsang and the Legco secretariat Secretary General Kenneth Chen. Meanwhile, pan-democrats have dropped hints that they are going to take some "collective action" in the chamber when Leung is announcing the policy address. Some pan-democratic lawmakers have entered the chamber with their yellow umbrellas raised.
