***********************************************************
The Government received six suggestions in response to the Expressions of Interest (EOI) exercise, which closed at noon today (December 31).
"We welcome the response of six suggestions, which shows that the market has keen interest in the development of the cruise industry," a government spokesman said.
A summary of the suggestions received are shown in the annex.
The Government has set up an inter-departmental working group to carefully examine the suggestions received, based on the requirements set in the Invitation Document (detailed requirements set out in answer to question 4 on page 2). If Government could identify a suggestion or suggestions that could meet all our requirements, Government would conduct in-depth study on the location, follow established planning procedures and put the site to tender after public consultation. If there are no suggestions which fulfill the requirements, Government would not consider any sites other than Kai Tak and would strive to expedite the development of a new cruise terminal at Kai Tak.
"In the long run, we consider that the Kai Tak area, which is within the Victoria Harbour and has expansion capability, the ideal location for the development of cruise terminal facilities. We intend to reserve a site at Kai Tak for the development of cruise terminal facilities in order to cater for the long term needs of Hong Kong. We have proposed the development of cruise terminal in the Kai Tak Planning Review. The Planning Department is consulting the public on this Review," the spokesman added.
The EOI is not a tender or pre-qualification exercise. It is an exercise to gauge the views from the market. If a site is identified suitable for cruise terminal development, it will be awarded through an open competitive bidding process.
Separately, the Government also received a proposal from the Wharf (Holdings) Limited (Wharf) to develop a cruise terminal at Kowloon Point. However, Wharf indicated that this is not in response to the EOI exercise.
Ends/Saturday, December 31, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:05
NNNN
