Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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- Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13
Question : Regarding the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), how much financial resources and manpower will be allocated by the Administration especially for the implementation work as well as future negotiations and conclusion of new supplements with the Mainland? Asked by : Hon. WONG Ting-kwong Reply : For the CEPA-related work, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (Commerce, Industry and Tourism Branch) is responsible for the overall policy; the Trade and Industry Department oversees bilateral discussions on further liberalisation and implementation of liberalisation measures under CEPA; and individual bureaux and departments deal with specific issues related to the liberalisation and implementation of CEPA in the relevant service sectors. The resource requirements are worked out by relevant bureaux/departments respectively, and we do not have information on the actual amount involved.
Question : It is stated in the Matters Requiring Special Attention in 2012-13 that the Trade and Industry Department will continue to implement measures and co-operate with the trade and industrial organisations to support the development and promotion of Hong Kong brands. What are the specific measures and work? What are the financial resources and manpower involved? Asked by : Hon. WONG Ting-kwong Reply : The Trade and Industry Department (TID) endeavours to assist Hong Kong enterprises in developing brands and exploring the Mainland and overseas markets. Its SME Export Marketing Fund supports small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in market promotion activities; while the SME Development Fund provides financial support to trade and industrial organisations, support organisations and professional bodies to carry out projects which enhance the competitiveness of SMEs. The estimated expenditure of the above-mentioned funds for 2012-13 is $299.6 million. To assist Hong Kong enterprises in establishing their brands and enhancing their competitiveness in the Mainland and overseas markets, in 2012-13, we will also strengthen our co-operation with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, local business associations and other relevant organisations and continue to organise seminars to help enterprises better understand brand development as well as strategies to explore the Mainland and overseas markets. TID will also disseminate practical reference information relevant to brand development to Hong Kong enterprises through various channels (like brand promotion website). Expenses for organising seminars and maintaining the brand promotion website, etc. are covered by the recurrent expenditure of TID and the work will be handled by existing manpower. To support Hong Kong enterprises, in particular SMEs, to capture the opportunities arising from the National 12th Five-Year Plan, the Chief Executive announced in the 2011-12 Policy Address a proposal to set up a dedicated fund of $1 billion to encourage them to move up the value chain and explore and develop the Mainland market through developing brands, restructuring and upgrading their operations and promoting domestic sales in the Mainland. The fund would comprise two parts: (i) to provide funding support to individual Hong Kong companies to assist them in undertaking projects to develop brands, upgrade and restructure their business operations and promote sales in the Mainland market, so as to enhance their competitiveness and facilitate their business development in the Mainland market; and (ii) to provide funding support to non-profit-distributing organisations for them to undertake large-scale projects which aim to assist Hong Kong enterprises in general or in specific sectors to develop brands, upgrade and restructure business operations and promote sales in the Mainland market, so as to enhance their competitiveness in the Mainland market. We have consulted the trade earlier and are finalising the operation details of the fund. We plan to seek the funding approval from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in April with a view to launching the fund by mid 2012.
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