On September 24, the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council (GPRDBC) released a report in response to the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020) (the Outline).           

The GPRDBC set up an ad-hoc group in April 2009 with the goal of leveraging the opportunities arising from the Outline and making pragmatic recommendations in response to the Outline. On the basis of the win-win principle between Hong Kong and Guangdong, the ad hoc group conducted studies, meetings and consultations focusing on industries and livelihood matters. The GPRDBC hopes the release of the study report will facilitate the implementation of the Outline.

The study report covers two major areas — industries and livelihood matters — grouped into seven key headings with 47 strategic suggestions spanning 14 topics. The 14 topics are professional services (legal, finance, accounting, maritime and logistics, insurance), small and medium enterprises (SME), innovation technology, culture and creativity, testing and certification, healthcare services, environmental protection, education, transport, and social services.

The study report sets out the following seven key headings:

1. Coordinating hard and soft infrastructure and facilitating the four flows (information, passenger, logistics and capital flows);
2. Setting new systems and common standards;
3. Streamlining procedures and lowering entry threshold;
4. Seeking sustainable development and forming a quality living area;
5. Integrating social service resources and facilitating cross-border living;
6. Further collaborating in education and technology cooperation and optimizing overall workforce quality;
7. Enhancing financial infrastructure and guarding against financial risks.

Details of the 47 suggestions under the above seven key headings can be found in the report and the appendices. The appendices are available on the following Web site: [www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/council.htm].           

Victor Fung, the chairman of the GPRDBC, said that currently, the nation was formulating the “12-5” Plan and the governments of Hong Kong and Guangdong were working on the “Framework Agreement on Hong Kong-Guangdong Co-operation” as well as planning regional cooperation. In this regard, the GPRDBC projected that the study report and its win-win strategic recommendations will bring the cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong to a new height and assist the nation in looking for new directions in the future economic reform, development, upgrading and restructuring.

Marjorie Yang, the convenor of the Sub-group on Industries, said that all industrial developments were driven by demand and desire to improve people's livelihood. Hence, Hong Kong and Guangdong should understand people's needs and taste so as to make corresponding moves. Besides, the future industrial developments should emphasize original innovation and high added value, which would enhance the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong and Guangdong as well as the nation.

Cheng Yiu-tong, the convenor of the Sub-group on Livelihood Matters, said that the communication between the Hong Kong Government and various sectors in the community should be strengthened in order to raise public recognition of the Hong Kong-Guangdong collaboration and attract more public attention to the trend of integrating the two economies. In addition, he said that both Hong Kong and Guangdong should be open-minded in order to leverage the opportunities arising from the Outline and to push forward the recommendations and policies that would best benefit the people’s livelihood and the economies.

The GPRDBC report also suggested establishing a follow-up mechanism on a short- to medium-term and medium- to long-term basis in order to turn proposals into concrete actions. These would facilitate a new phase of economic integration and sustainable development in Hong Kong and Guangdong. Taking the service industry as an example, some of them found obstacles in the current entry system or approval procedure that hampered the development of the service industry. The GPRDBC proposed that the governments and industry sectors make representations to the Central Authorities, pinpointing the need for gradual perfection of the relevant laws and regulations to facilitate the development of the service industry and the upgrading and restructuring of the economies of Hong Kong and Guangdong.

Established in March 2004, the GPRDBC is a non-governmental organization under the Hong Kong/Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference engaged mainly in collating the views of the business, professional and various sectors and making recommendations to the governments of both places.