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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (November 15) at 11 am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on cooperation between Hong Kong and the Pan-Pearl River Delta region.
The motion, to be proposed by Hon Wong Ting-kwong, says:"That, as Pan-Pearl River Delta (ˇ§PPRDˇ¨) regional cooperation is an important and integral part to the implementation of the National Eleventh Five-Year Plan, and it offers enormous business opportunities for the development of Hong Kong, while at the same time posing great difficulties and challenges to the Hong Kong businessmen in the Pearl River Delta (ˇ§PRDˇ¨), this Council urges the Government to take proactive measures to promote the cooperation between Hong Kong and the PPRD region, including:
(a) offering incentives to attract Mainland enterprises to set up regional headquarters and engage in various investment activities in Hong Kong;
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(b) assisting in the development of a set of standardised commercial terms for the PPRD region;
(c) stepping up negotiations to expedite the construction of transport facilities linking Guangdong, and expeditiously implementing the plan to construct the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge;
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(d) increasing the Hong Kong SAR Governmentˇ¦s expenditure on research and development (ˇ§R&Dˇ¨);
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(e) setting up a restructuring fund to assist Hong Kong businessmen in upgrading and transforming their businesses;
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(f) promoting the setting up of an ˇ§applied research, science and technology fundˇ¨ jointly by Hong Kong and Guangdong for the Greater PRD;
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(g) establishing an applied science and technology research institute and a R&D centre for the Greater PRD; and
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(h) reflecting to the relevant Mainland departments that, prior to the introduction of major commercial laws and regulations in the Mainland, Hong Kong businessmen should be notified as early as possible and given sufficient cushion periods, so as to assist Hong Kong in developing new areas for economic growth, enhancing its competitiveness, facilitating economic restructuring and better complementing the countryˇ¦s economic development.ˇ¨
Hon Howard Young and Hon Ronny Tong Ka-wah will move separate amendments to Hon Wong Ting-kwongˇ¦s motion, while Hon Chan Kam-lam will move an amendment to Hon Ronny Tong Ka-wahˇ¦s amendment.
Members will also debate a motion on assisting people with disabilities in integrating into society. The motion, to be moved by Hon Leung Yiu-chung, states: ˇ§That this Council expresses deep regret that the government departments concerned, some statutory transport corporations and public transport operators have failed to face up to the motions passed by this Council in the 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 sessions calling for improvement to transport facilities for people with disabilities and the offer of concessionary fares to them, and this Council requests the Administration to expeditiously adopt effective measures to fulfil the following demands:
(a) examining the existing legislation and, if necessary, introducing legislative amendments or enacting laws to press various public transport operators to offer public transport half-fare concessions to people with disabilities and improve their facilities in order to reduce the barriers to the disabled, or making reference to overseas experience to provide transport subsidy for them;
(b) allocating additional resources to expeditiously improve the Rehabus service; and
(c) according priority to the introduction of a quota system for employing people with disabilities, and encouraging its implementation in the private sector,
so as to enable more people with disabilities to integrate into society, with a view to achieving the objective of ˇ§A Society for Allˇ¨ promoted by the Government.ˇ¨
Hon Tommy Cheung and Dr Hon Fernando Cheung will move separate amendments to Hon Leung Yiu-chungˇ¦s motion.
Meanwhile, the President of the Legislative Council will present the Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended March 31, 2006, as well as the Report No. 47 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits.
During the meeting, Members will ask the Government 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council website (www.legco.gov.hk).
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the audio webcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, November 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:21
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