Policy Address
Enhancing Hong Kong’s Status as an International Trade Centre
46. Having the advantage of being a highly internationalised city, Hong Kong plays an important role in international trade. Last year, our global ranking in terms of total merchandise trade value rose to the sixth place. Benefitting from the stable supply chains maintained through effective control of the epidemic in the Mainland, the value of Hong Kong’s total merchandise trade has rebounded since the fourth quarter of last year and hit a record high of $6,509.9 billion for the first eight months of this year.
47. The current-term Government is keen to foster closer commercial, trade and investment relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). We are also seeking to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as soon as possible. In the context of “domestic circulation” under the “dual circulation” development pattern of our country, we will continuously seek to create more favourable conditions for Hong Kong enterprises to enter the Mainland market under the framework of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).
48. The convention and exhibition (C&E) industry is crucial to Hong Kong as an international trade centre. To cope with the impact of the pandemic, the Government is implementing the Convention and Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme with a commitment of over $1 billion to provide impetus for the C&E industry. The Government will further extend the validity of the Scheme to the end of next year, and will enhance its implementation details to provide timely and more targeted assistance to the industry. In the long run, the Government will continue to expand C&E facilities, including redeveloping the sites of the three government towers in Wan Chai North and the Kong Wan Fire Station into C&E facilities, hotel and Grade A offices, as well as expanding the AsiaWorld-Expo, in order to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international C&E hub.
