Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said on Wednesday officials will soon come up with measures to allow shopping malls to host more business activities within their public open spaces.

That came after a revamped ante-chamber meeting at the Legislative Council, where officials bounce ideas off lawmakers based on their membership in specific panels, rather than a more general group.

Linn said lawmakers generally welcomed the government's idea for malls, which is meant to give the economy a shot in the arm.

"How can we remove barriers and allow owners to make good use of spaces to host activities, to drive up the economic environment in the community?" she told lawmakers after the meeting.

"How can we streamline our vetting?"

Linn also said officials are studying whether to give floor-area concessions to developers for building carparks above ground and not just for underground facilities.

For her part, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said she gave an update to lawmakers about how officials have lowered the construction cost to date for building light public housing flats by around HK$6 billion to HK$21 billion mainly through the improved use of modular integrated construction.

Both Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong and development panel chairman Lo Wai-kwok hailed the revamped meeting prodedure, saying it allows more frank and free exchange of ideas between the two sides.