Highlights - Striving Ahead with Renewed Perseverance

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Land Creation for Housing Development Bearing Fruit

Meeting the 10-year Public Housing Supply Target under the Long Term Housing Strategy

  • Identified 330 hectares of land to build 316 000 public housing units, satisfying the demand for public housing of about 301 000 units under the 10-year Long Term Housing Strategy (2021-22 to 2030-31). The supply of land mainly comes from Tung Chung New Town Extension, Kai Tak, Anderson Road Quarry, Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen, Kwu Tung North/Fanling North, partial development of the Fanling Golf Course, brownfield clusters with development potential, rezoned sites and sites reserved for public housing development by the Housing Department

Increase Land Supply in the Medium to Long Term

  • Provide over 100 000 public and private housing units in the coming 10 to 15 years, mainly from housing sites of about 90 hectares along the Northern Link, topside development on Siu Ho Wan MTR Depot, and the redevelopment of three urban squatter areas and Tai Hang Sai Estate

Long-term Planning for Sustainable Land Supply

  • Long-term housing supply options mainly rely on reclamation of the artificial islands at Kau Yi Chau, near-shore reclamation at Lung Kwu Tan and the re-planning of Tuen Mun West, involving about 1 440 hectares of land in total

Expedite the Supply of Public and Private Housing

  • Set up the Development Projects Facilitation Office to expedite the processing of development approvals of large-scale private residential sites
  • Expand the remit of the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control to cover departments not under the Development Bureau
  • The Chief Executive will provide personal steer on housing and land supply to ensure all bureaux and departments will keep pace with each other

Transitional Housing and Other Support Measures

  • Make use of dedicated funding of $8.3 billion to facilitate the provision of 15 000 transitional housing units by non-government organisations (NGOs) in the three years from 2020-21 to 2022-23. Suitable sites have already been identified for providing 13 200 units
  • Launch a pilot scheme to subsidise NGOs to rent hotels or guesthouses for use as transitional housing
  • Launch a trial scheme in mid-2021 to provide cash allowance for eligible applicant households which have been queuing for public rental housing for over three years, benefiting around 90 000 households
  • Complete the Study on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units by the first quarter of 2021
  • Invite the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society to increase the plot ratio of future public housing projects so that 5% of the gross floor area can be set aside for the provision of social welfare facilities

Sustainable City Development

Traffic and Transport Infrastructure

  • Conduct a comprehensive traffic and transport strategy study and the "Strategic Studies on Railway and Major Roads beyond 2030" to complement land development planning and housing supply, and to support sustainable development
  • The MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) has embarked on the detailed planning and design of the Tung Chung Line Extension and Tuen Mun South Extension, and will commence the relevant work on the Northern Link and submit the project proposal on the South Island Line (West) to the Government
  • Put forward and consult the public on a multi-modal Environmentally Friendly Linkage System (EFLS), including the development of a travellators network and an elevated landscape deck to connect the Kwun Tong MTR Station, so as to enhance the accessibility of Kowloon East

Environmental Protection Blueprint

  • Strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050 and update the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan in mid-2021 to formulate more aggressive strategies and measures
  • Invite tenders to develop a modern pulping facility in EcoPark, Tuen Mun, in the first half of 2021 to ensure that we can handle the recycling of waste paper

Revitalising Industrial Buildings

  • Roll out a pilot scheme in early 2021 for charging land premium according to "standard rates" in respect of lease modification applications to expedite redevelopment of industrial buildings

Education and Talent

Quality Education

  • Enhance moral, civic and national education, as well as strengthen education on the Constitution, the Basic Law and national security
  • Reform the liberal studies subject in the senior secondary curriculum
  • Enhance the training of teachers upon appointment, during service and before promotion to enhance their quality
  • Set aside $2 billion under the Quality Education Fund to launch a three-year programme to support e-learning and to ensure that students from disadvantaged families will enjoy equal learning opportunities
  • Support the provision of new teaching facilities and a student hostel for the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Youth Development

  • Launch the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), under which subsidies will be provided for about 200 youth start-ups, and earmark $100 million under the Youth Development Fund for this purpose
  • Launch the GBA Youth Employment Scheme under which enterprises operating business in both Hong Kong and the GBA Mainland cities will be provided with subsidies to recruit and deploy local university graduates to work in the GBA Mainland cities with a quota of 2 000

Creating Employment and Relieving Unemployment

Creating Employment

  • In addition to providing about 10 000 civil service job openings and creating about 30 000 time-limited jobs under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund (of which over 11 000 jobs are suitable for university graduates) this financial year, the Government will create more sector-specific job opportunities, covering environmental protection, construction and engineering, innovation and technology, property management, legal, creative industries, etc., for young people graduating in recent years
  • Provide 20 000 places with training allowance under the Employees Retraining Board's new tranche of the Love Upgrading Special Scheme to be implemented in January 2021 for six months

Enhancing Social Security Safety Net

  • Extend the Special Scheme of Assistance to the Unemployed under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) (under which the asset limits for the able-bodied applicants are relaxed by 100%) for six months until 31 May 2021
  • Implement a new arrangement under the CSSA Scheme, under which the cash value of insurance policies owned by able-bodied applicants will be disregarded for the asset test for a period of one year
  • Make the Short-term Food Assistance Service Projects a permanent service from August 2021

Alleviating the Burden of Transport Expenses

  • Extend the special temporary measure of relaxing the monthly public transport expenses threshold under the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme from $400 to $200 for six months until 30 June 2021
  • The MTRCL will extend the 20% fare discount, which was originally planned to cease at the end of this year, for three months until March 2021

Medical and Health

  • Earmark an additional $300 million under the Beat Drugs Fund to provide targeted and sustained support for persons with mental health needs
  • Provide additional residential respite places through the Bought Place Scheme for Private Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities; provide residential respite service at special schools with a boarding section where vacant boarding places are available; arrange severely mentally handicapped persons in need of pairing day activity centre services to receive services at their hostels; and conduct a study on carer policy and the relevant pilot schemes
  • Expand the scope of subsidy of the Elderly Dental Assistance Programme under the Community Care Fund to include subsidising the removal of bridges or crowns and the provision of pulp treatment; and allowing elderly persons who are aged 75 or above, and have joined the programme for at least five years to receive free removable dentures and related dental services for a second time
  • Further enhance the means test mechanism to ease the financial burden of patients requiring long-term medication; increase the types of drugs covered under the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes; and set up databases and information platforms for uncommon disorders

Municipal Services

  • Apply technology to improve hygiene of public toilets and strengthen anti-rodent work
  • Commission the Tin Shui Wai temporary market shortly, and press ahead with the planning of six new public market projects

New Impetus to the Economy

International Financial Centre

  • Include the pre-profit biotechnology companies listed in Hong Kong and stocks listed on the Mainland Sci-Tech Innovation Board meeting certain prescribed criteria into the stock universe of the mutual market access programmes
  • Expedite the implementation of the GBA cross-boundary wealth management connect scheme
  • Promote real estate investment trusts (REIT) in Hong Kong, including considering a relaxation of the investment restrictions of REIT as appropriate and broadening the investor base, as well as providing tax concession for carried interest issued by private equity funds
  • Launch the Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme to encourage traditional financial institutions to partner with start-ups to conduct Proof-of-Concept projects
  • Conduct public consultation on the establishment of a licensing regime to monitor virtual asset service providers

International Aviation Hub

  • The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) will invest in Zhuhai Airport on the basis of market principles to reinforce its advantage in aviation
  • To consolidate and enhance the development of the airport city, AAHK will develop innovative facilities on the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF) Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), including automated car parks, the Intermodal Transfer Terminal, the Airport City Link connecting the airport, the SKYCITY and the HKBCF Island via the autonomous transportation system and extend it to the Tung Chung Town Centre later
  • Commence preparation work for cross-boundary commercial helicopter services

International Innovation and Technology Hub

  • Jointly develop the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Co-operation Zone with Shenzhen, and explore with Shenzhen government the idea of allowing the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation to lease and manage certain areas of the Innovation and Technology Zone in Futian, Shenzhen, before the completion of the first batch of research and development (R&D) buildings in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop
  • Launch a five-year Global STEM Professorship Scheme at a cost of $2 billion to attract outstanding R&D talent from overseas to engage in R&D work in Hong Kong
  • Release the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong 2.0 in December this year with more than 130 smart city initiatives
  • Launch the iAM Smart one-stop service platform in December this year for the delivery of a number of government and public utility electronic services

Supporting Business and Commerce Development and Small and Medium Enterprises

  • Expand the scope of subsidy under the Small and Medium Enterprises Export Marketing Fund for two years so that enterprises affected by the epidemic can fully utilise both online and offline sale channels
  • Set aside $50 million under the Professional Services Advancement Support Scheme to subsidise professional bodies to step up publicity and promotion in the GBA and overseas
  • The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will launch a one-stop "GoGBA" platform in collaboration with the Guangdong Province and relevant chambers of commerce to provide policy advisory, training and matching services, thereby enabling Hong Kong enterprises to explore opportunities in the Mainland's domestic market and gain access to the large-scale e-commerce platforms in the Mainland

Creative Industries

  • Make an additional injection of $1 billion into the CreateSmart Initiative
  • Set up an inter-bureau task force to promote and develop Art Tech, set aside $100 million and provide state-of-the-art venues and complementary facilities for experimental use

Construction Industry

  • Maintain an annual capital works expenditure of over $100 billion in the next few years, creating over 300 000 employment opportunities for the construction industry taking into account investment from the private sector
  • Propose to the Legislative Council to raise the expenditure ceiling for each minor works project funded under the block vote from the current $30 million to $50 million to expedite the implementation of projects that are closely related to the daily lives of the people

Convention and Exhibition Industry

  • Take forward the redevelopment of the three government towers in Wan Chai North and the Kong Wan Fire Station into convention and exhibition facilities, hotels and offices, and press ahead with the development of phase two of AsiaWorld-Expo
  • Make use of the $1 billion Convention and Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme to subsidise exhibitors of exhibitions organised by the HKTDC and participants of its major conventions

Tourism Industry

  • Roll out additional relief measures involving a funding of $600 million for the tourism industry, which has been hardest hit by the epidemic
  • Tap into more local cultural and green tourism resources once the epidemic has eased, with a view to expanding both the Mainland and overseas visitor source markets as well as offering leisure and travel experience with rich historical and cultural elements

 

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