The difficulty with the proposal is that the Kuk's political influence in the New Territories is diminishing with the expansion of the new towns and this influence will be further eroded with the introduction of direct elections to the legislature.
Foreign Chambers of Commerce
13
Foreign Chambers of Commerce could become a third electoral division to the existing Commercial functional constituency, which now comprises the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Such a development would demonstrate to overseas investors and trading partners Hong Kong's continuing commitment to international trade, its openness to international business, and its cosmopolitan attitude. It would also signal to foreign business interests the welcome they can expect in Hong Kong.
These considerations are important to maintaining Hong Kong as a international trade and financial centre.
14
Presented along these lines, the proposal should not criticism from China that this is a further measure to "internationalise" the Hong Kong question.
provoke
Other financial institutions
15
The financial sector is at present represented only by the banks, in the Finance and Accountancy constituency. Given the growing importance of Hong Kong as a financial centre, it is proposed that the other major financial institutions, namely, stockbroking, commodities and futures trading, deposit trading companies and insurance brokers, should be included as a separate division to strengthen the representation. This arrangement would also give recognition to the increasing importance of components of the financial sector, other than the banks, to the Hong Kong economy and would provide an official seal of approval to the revamping of the securities and commodities sector.
As regards deposit-taking companies, it is not appropriate to include them in the existing Banking division as this would result in the banks being overwhelmed by the number of deposit taking companies.
Tourism
16
The tourism industry
is of great importance to Hong Kong, and it makes a significant contribution to the economy. There are strong grounds for the industry being represented in the legislature. The difficulty arises in defining the
electorate.