Various lawmakers said they backed the idea of building a commodity trading ecosystem to consolidate Hong Kong's role as an international trading centre on day one of the three-day Legco debate on the city's first five-year plan and the Policy Address.

Commercial sector lawmaker Andrew Yao said the SAR could focus on developing commodity trading in green energy and agricultural products.

Yao also spoke about the need to fast-track the construction of commodity warehouses.

“I suggest that regarding warehouse land, we should remove barriers and constraints, relaxing restrictions in lease of land in the Northern Metropolis and around the airport and streamlining the approval process in order to develop high-standard commodity warehouses,” he said.

In a bid to attract more commodity traders to Hong Kong, the government has proposed slashing profits tax from the standard 16.5 percent to 8.25 percent for physical trading.

Import and export sector lawmaker Tommy Chung said that should be extended to cover local warehouses and logistics firms as well.

Ray Wong of the industrial sector urged officials to draw reference from Singapore and introduce a dedicated 5 percent preferential tax rate for green commodity trading that meets emissions reduction standards.

Finance sector lawmaker Ronick Chan, for his part, voiced support for the five-year plan's vision of benchmarking Hong Kong against other major international gold trading centres.

“Recently, there have been news reports that a country has stored more than 100 tonnes of gold in Hong Kong. On this basis, I suggest the government strive to encourage the People's Bank of China, alongside the central banks of India and Asean countries, to also store their gold reserves here. This would enhance local physical gold inventory and boost our credibility,” he said.

There were also calls to boost business tourism.

“Hong Kong's four centres and one hub naturally make Hong Kong a premier MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) destination, and we hope the government can consider establishing a unified MICE authority with a cross-bureau mandate to deliver policy support – such as bidding and logistical assistance, streamlined venue arrangements, Greater Bay Area day trips, cultural and sports programmes etc. – to better deliver business tourism as one seamless offer,” tourism sector representative Vivian Kong said.

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Stanley Ng called on the government to put the emphasis on local employment amid economic development.

He urged authorities to publish annual figures on the number and types of jobs created through development projects in the Northern Metropolis.


Edited by Edmond Fong