Policy Address
Developing into a Centre for International Legal and Dispute Resolution Services in the Asia-Pacific Region
52. The rule of law in Hong Kong provides reassurance to Mainland and international investors when conducting business transactions and resolving commercial disputes in Hong Kong. To press ahead with the development of Hong Kong into a major centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region, we will adopt a wide range of measures including attracting international legal and dispute resolution institutions to set up offices in the Hong Kong Legal Hub, promoting international legal co-operation and exchanges, as well as securing international organisations to hold decision-making meetings in Hong Kong. The DoJ has successfully secured the hosting of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization Annual Meeting and the inter-sessional meeting of Working Group III of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in Hong Kong at the end of this year.
53. To enable the legal sector to meet the need for legal and dispute resolution services in the GBA, the DoJ will continue to organise the GBA Legal Professional Examination, develop a set of unified qualification, accreditation and other relevant standards for mediators in the GBA, take forward the measures of allowing wholly-owned Hong Kong enterprises registered in Qianhai, Shenzhen to adopt Hong Kong law and choose for arbitration to be seated in Hong Kong, and strive to extend such measures to other areas of Shenzhen and even the entire GBA.
Developing into an International Innovation and Technology Hub
54. The current-term Government has made unprecedented strides to promote I&T development by investing more than $130 billion over four years. Hong Kong’s I&T industry is flourishing at the moment, and the interaction among the Government, industry, academia and research sectors has also been strengthened significantly. To sustain this good momentum, we are keen to develop a more comprehensive I&T ecosystem, so as to enable re-industrialisation to take root in Hong Kong and complement I&T development in Shenzhen and the GBA, thus making I&T a new impetus to the economy of Hong Kong and developing Hong Kong into an international I&T hub as promulgated in the 14th Five-Year Plan.
