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The following is issued on behalf of the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee Secretariat:
The Business Facilitation Advisory Committee held its fifth meeting today (July 25).
The committee was pleased that the Government is making good progress in taking forward the "Be the Smart Regulator" Programme, and that the improvement measures are well received by the trade. The Programme was launched in late 2006 to further improve the licensing processes and business environment of Hong Kong, with the aim to reduce the compliance costs to the business sectors.
The committee noted that the Government has so far set up eight Business Liaison Groups (BLGs) for the cinema, theme park, family amusement centre, hotel, recreation club, other entertainment establishment (such as mahjong club and karaoke club), restaurant food business and non-restaurant food business sectors, which facilitate mutual communication between the trades and the Government and help resolve regulatory/licensing issues. A total of 19 BLG meetings have been held so far. The trades have raised 271 regulatory/licensing issues, of which 159 have been addressed and resolved.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Home Affairs Department have been vigorously pursuing business facilitation of their licensing activities. Business Facilitation Officers have been assigned to examine the licensing procedures and recommend improvements. The roll-out of the application tracking facility to 12 food-related licences of the FEHD since mid-February this year has helped the department in building up a more responsive service culture. The departments aim to open up the tracking facility for online tracking by applicants by February 2008.
The committee reviewed the work of the various business facilitation task forces. The Pre-construction Task Force will set up a working group with representatives from the Lands Department, the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors to examine the existing premium valuation process and recommend improvement measures to speed up the implementation of development projects. The Food Business Task Force will commence a review on food factory licence and the transfer of food-related licences with a view to removing unnecessary regulatory controls and streamlining the transfer process. The Retail Task Force is facilitating the communication between the Department of Health and the trade in addressing issues in connection with the regulatory control of proprietary Chinese medicine. The Retail Task Force also continues to discuss with the Administration on the most effective way to introduce the proposed nutrition labelling scheme.
The committee considered the final report of the study on "International schools' expansion efforts in Hong Kong" commissioned by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. The committee agreed that Hong Kong should optimize available resources to provide quality education to the whole community. The committee was also of the view that the development of a vibrant international school sector and the provision of sufficient international school places are critical to attracting foreign investment and strengthening Hong Kong's position as a world city. The committee suggested the Administration should consider ways to improve the efficiency and transparency of the various government processes related to school expansion projects.
The committee also discussed the regulatory issues related to the change of usage of vacant industrial premises.
Papers for the committee meeting will be uploaded onto the internet (http://www.eabfu.gov.hk/en/committee/index.htm) for access by the public.
Ends/Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:34
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