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“The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta” (the Outline) has elevated Hong Kong-Guangdong co-operation to a national strategic level. One major element in the implementation of the Outline is to draw up a framework agreement for Hong Kong-Guangdong co-operation. The framework agreement will translate the Outline’s macro policies into concrete measures conducive to the development of both places. Since the implementation of the Outline and formulation of the framework agreement involves the work of various Bureaux and Departments of the HKSAR Government, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau has assumed the coordinating role.
The work of the Commerce, Industry and Tourism Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau in promoting Hong Kong-Guangdong co-operation include the following:
(i) Facilitation of regional tourism development – the Outline supports further facilitating the movement of personnel among the Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao regions; the enhancement of the “144-hour facilitation visa” policy and tourism cooperation and development amongst the three places. We will continue to work together with the Guangdong Province to facilitate regional tourism development and enhance the attractiveness of Guangdong and Hong Kong as travel destinations. Specifically, we will examine the feasibility of introducing further measures to facilitate visits between residents of the two sides and work with the Guangdong side to develop and promote more “multi-destination” tourism products. We hope to explore these measures so as to take advantage of the extension of the “144-hour facilitation visa” policy to the entire Guangdong Province and attract more tourists from both within and outside the region.
(ii) Customs facilitation – we will enhance co-operation between the customs authorities of the two sides to expedite the flow of cargoes. For example, we are adopting similar data structures in our respective electronic cargo clearance systems to facilitate the trade. We will continue to liaise with the relevant Mainland authorities to explore other possible facilitation measures, with a view to maintaining the competitive advantages of the Guangdong Province and Hong Kong.
(iii) Promoting the development of service industries – since 2008, the Mainland and Hong Kong have announced various liberalisation measures relating to service industries and the facilitation of trade and investment under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) framework, for early and pilot implementation in the Guangdong Province. These measures have been progressively implemented since 2009. To tie in with the policy direction in the Outline of supporting in-depth cooperation among Hong Kong, Macao and other places in the Pearl River Delta Region in developing modern service industries, we will continue to appeal to the Guangdong authorities to introduce more liberalisation measures for early and pilot implementation in Guangdong.
(iv) Upgrading and restructuring of the processing trade – the Outline mentions the policy direction of facilitating the upgrading and restructuring of the processing trade and the opening up of the Mainland market for domestic sales. We have been maintaining close dialogue with the Guangdong Province so as to assist Hong Kong enterprises operating in Guangdong to develop along this direction. We will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with the Guangdong Province; relay to the Guangdong side problems encountered by the trade in the process of upgrading and restructuring and developing domestic sales and discuss with them proposed supportive measures for the trade. We also encourage the trade to make good use of the business matching events and trade fairs organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Mainland provinces and cities, so as to open up the Mainland domestic market.
(v) Protection of Intellectual Property (IP) Rights - we will continue to strengthen our ties with the Guangdong Province to establish a comprehensive cooperation mechanism for enhancing intelligence/information exchange and enforcement relating to intellectual property; refine the "Intellectual Property Database for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao"; strengthen IP-related publicity, training, exchanges and collaboration in education and research; take forward the "No Fakes Pledge" Scheme, organise seminars for enterprises and exchanges with IP practitioners and relevant non-government organisations; encourage Hong Kong residents to duly obtain qualifications as patent agents in the Mainland, and facilitate the exchanges and cooperation between IP intermediaries of the two places.
(vi) Promotion of investment – we adopt a proactive approach in promoting investment flows between Hong Kong and Guangdong. We promote Hong Kong’s competitive edges and investment environment to Guangdong companies through investment promotion activities. We will continue to encourage Guangdong enterprises, through organising seminars and other promotion activities, to use Hong Kong as a gateway to international market. In addition, we will organise joint overseas investment promotion events in collaboration with our Guangdong counterparts to promote the advantages and opportunities offered by Hong Kong and the Greater Pearl River Delta region, thereby fostering regional economic development.
The above-mentioned work will be done using existing manpower and resources.
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