Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said on Saturday that gold storage facilities do not have to be located at the airport.

The government unveiled in the Policy Address last week that it hopes to build an international gold trading market by promoting the development of world-class gold storage facilities.

The capacity of the gold vault at the city's international airport stands at 150 tonnes, and the Airport Authority announced that it is finalising the expansion plan of precious metal depository in line with the government's initiative.

However, speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Hui said storage facilities do not have to be sited at the airport.

"Of course, the airport has an innate advantage, because it's safe and secure. In terms of planning, it also allows us to get a better idea of the quantity and scale involved, because the plot of land is relatively level," he said.

"But can we say that other sites can't be used as storage facilities? I don't think so. It's mainly driven by the market, and whether we could meet the storage requirements."

Hui also revealed that he will set up a working group to review the drive of world-class storage facilities in the region, by the end of this year.

While Hong Kong has always been a distribution centre for gold, apart from import and export of the precious metal, Hui hopes the city can make a breakthrough in trading as well as prices of gold.