Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Carmen Kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):
Question:
The 2025 Policy Address proposed the introduction of dedicated legislation to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis (NM). Subsequently, the Secretary for Development indicated at the policy briefing of the Panel on Development of this Council in October last year that there would hopefully be a main framework for the dedicated legislation, and that subsidiary legislation might be further introduced in the light of NM’s development needs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the roles and functions of the Committee on Development of the NM and its three groups respectively led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary (FS) and the Deputy Financial Secretary in the enactment of the dedicated legislation for the NM; given the Government’s remark that one or more dedicated companies will be set up for various industrial parks within the NM, of the division of labour and collaboration model between the three groups and those statutory industry park companies;
(2) apart from the statutory procedures involving six major areas that the Government will be empowered to simplify under the dedicated legislation for the NM (i.e. (i) setting up statutory industry park companies; (ii) providing such companies with dedicated channels for funding; (iii) managing the cross-boundary flow in designated areas; (iv) speeding up the approval of building plans; (v) relaxing permitted uses in outline zoning plans and fine-tuning development parameters; and (vi) expediting compensation payment for land resumption) as proposed in the 2025 Policy Address, whether the Government has plans to extend the application of the dedicated legislation to cover more other aspects; whether the Advisory Committee on the NM chaired by the FS will adjust the structure and terms of reference of the Committee and its sub-committees in the light of the six major areas involved under the dedicated legislation;
(3) of the specific timetable for enacting the dedicated legislation for the NM (including its main framework and the subsidiary legislation involving the six major areas); whether the legislative process will be expedited and whether the relevant bill will be introduced as soon as possible; if so, of the plans; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) of the government department primarily responsible for formulating the main framework for the dedicated legislation for the NM, and the government departments planned by the Government to be empowered to enact the relevant subsidiary legislation involving the six major areas; and
(5) how the Government assesses and ascertains that the intended dedicated legislation for NM can meet NM’s development needs, and whether the Government has anticipated the short, medium and long-term outcomes to be achieved by the dedicated legislation respectively; whether performance indicators will be set out for the effectiveness of the dedicated legislation; if so, of the plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
It is stated in the 2025 Policy Address that in order to further develop the economy and improve people’s livelihood, the Government must speed up the Northern Metropolis (NM) development and raise the level of decision-making accordingly by establishing the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis under the leadership of the Chief Executive and introducing dedicated legislation to accelerate the development of the NM, etc.
My reply to various parts of the Hon Kan’s question is as follows:
(1) and (4) Three working groups have been set up under the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis to supervise respective matters concerning the development of the NM. As the dedicated legislation involves a range of policy areas, the Northern Metropolis Co-ordination Office under the Development Bureau is currently co-ordinating the relevant preparatory work, and would report to the relevant working groups on different areas. An overall report would also be made to the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis and necessary steer would be sought.
The objective of establishing a park company is to attract enterprises to establish presence and accelerate development of industries in the NM under a government-led approach, while allowing more flexibility in operation under a company setting. The Working Group on Devising Development and Operation Models led by the Financial Secretary (FS) is responsible for this important task. Among others, the Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company Limited wholly owned by the Government was established in early January this year upon endorsement by the Working Group. This is a non-statutory company responsible for the development and operation of around 23-hectare industry land in Hung Shui Kiu. The Government is moving in full steam on the preparation work for the Park Company to commence operation in mid-2026.
(2) and (5) Regarding the dedicated legislation for the NM, the Government’s current thinking is to stipulate the relevant policy recommendations in the proposed legislation as a main framework, and delegate the power of further enacting relevant subsidiary legislation to the Chief Executive in Council to cover the implementation details of the policy recommendations as required. By doing so, the Government will be able to constantly review and flexibly adjust the implementation details as and when necessary in response to the rapid development of the NM, whereas the Legislative Council (LegCo) will continue to play its gatekeeping role.
The dedicated legislation for the development of the NM aims to empower the Government to devise simplified statutory procedures, further remove barriers for the development of the NM, and achieve the dual major goals of accelerating the completion of development and construction, and facilitating industry anchoring in the NM, thereby guiding Hong Kong’s high-quality economic and social development in the future. We are currently formulating the details of the proposed legislation, including the areas and objectives involved, which will be announced and consulted in the upcoming public consultation. The legislative intent may not be quantified or measured by performance indicators at this stage.
Regarding the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis chaired by the FS and its four sub-committees, they comprise members from the Government and various sectors outside. Their primary role is to advise the Government on the overall development and different aspects of the NM, and may raise comments on the drafting and implementation of the dedicated legislation for the NM later with regard to their purview. Their operation will not be affected by the ambit or content of the dedicated legislation for the NM at this stage.
(3) We plan to launch a public consultation on the content of the proposed legislation in the first quarter of this year and submit the bill to the LegCo in mid-2026. We will strive to complete the legislative work within this year.