Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
Question:
To enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s logistics industry and support the logistics industry in nurturing more professional talents, the Government launched the Pilot Subsidy Scheme for Third-party Logistics Service Providers (the Pilot Scheme) in 2020 and the Professional Training on Smart and Green Logistics Scheme (the Training Scheme) in 2024, and enhanced the aforesaid two schemes in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Some members of the industry have relayed that the Government should consider further enhancing the two schemes in due course. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(2) whether it will inject further funds into the Pilot Scheme and regularise the scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will further raise the funding ceiling for the Pilot Scheme following the enhancement measures in 2024, and extend the eligibility criteria for service providers from local suppliers to international suppliers; if so, the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) of the total number of logistics practitioners who have received funding to undertake courses since the launch of the Training Scheme, and the average amount of funding per approved application; whether the funding ceiling for the Training Scheme and the funding ratios for course fees will be raised; if so, the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) whether the authorities will collaborate with universities and vocational training organisations to design more specialised logistics-related training courses, so as to cover emerging technologies such as transport management and warehouse management systems, Robotic Process Automation, automated storage and retrieval system, and Internet of Things sensors; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to the development of Hong Kong’s logistics industry and has all along been supporting and enhancing Hong Kong’s position as an international logistics hub. To this end, the Government promulgated the Action Plan on Modern Logistics Development in 2023, which sets out eight strategies and 24 action measures following five development directions, namely smart development, modernisation, green and sustainability, internationalisation and facilitation, to address the short, medium and long-term needs of the logistics industry, thereby achieving the goal of developing Hong Kong into a sustainable international smart logistics hub focusing on high-value goods and the e-commerce market.
The reply in response to Hon Jimmy Ng’s question is as follows:
(1) and (2) The Government has all along been committed to facilitating application of subsidies by the industry while ensuring prudent use of public funds. The current application procedures and required documents are mainly used to verify the eligibility of applicant enterprises and ensure the projects under application fall within the scope of the scheme. As the Secretariat of the Pilot Scheme, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has been providing one-on-one advisory services and organising webinars to explain the scheme’s details and successful cases, as well as operating a dedicated enquiry hotline and email, so as to help applicants understand the application process of the Pilot Scheme and hence to expedite the application handling process. The Government and the HKPC will review the operational arrangements of the Pilot Scheme continually.
As regards the eligibility of service providers, the Pilot Scheme currently requires that service providers must be companies registered in Hong Kong, so as to ensure that logistics enterprises can receive timely and appropriate local installation and technical support services during project implementation. The Pilot Scheme does not impose any specific requirements on the place of origin of the solutions.
The Government will continue to review the implementation and effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme, and will explore the feasibility of additional capital injection into and regularisation of the Pilot Scheme at a suitable juncture.