Hong Kong delegates to the nation’s top legislature body on Wednesday said they are ready and well-prepared for longer meetings this year.

The National People's Congress (NPC) will hold its annual session from March 5 to 12, with 11 items on the agenda.

Speaking to reporters a day before the session opens, local NPC delegate Ma Fung-kwok pointed out that the agenda for this year is a bit more extensive than in previous years.

“This year’s meetings are a bit special. The first thing is to review the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan. In addition, there are a few more draft laws to be deliberated, covering areas including the environment, ethnic unity and national development planning. So the meeting time will be a bit longer,” he said.

Echoing Ma’s remarks, another local NPC member, Allen Yeung, said the most important thing for the 35 Hong Kong delegates was to get themselves prepared to rigorously review each item on the agenda.

“We will have small group discussions every day to review all items on the agenda... As this year marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan, everyone will likely focus on how to further improve the plan,” he said.

Yeung, who is a former government Chief Information Officer, added that as Hong Kong is set to formulate its first-ever five-year plan to better integrate into the national development, he personally would drive forward initiatives to transform the SAR into an international innovation and technology hub.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden