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Planning, Land and Infrastructure
In 2016, the council received 718 applications for its Subcontractor Registration Scheme and approved 604, bringing the totals to 9,572 and 8,920 respectively since the scheme was introduced in 2003.
Registration of Workers
As at December, there were about 425,000 registrants under the Construction Workers Registration Ordinance. The bureau and the council were preparing for the implementation of a 'designated workers for designated skills' requirement in April 2017. Preparatory work conducted in 2016 included deploying outreach teams to help eligible workers apply for registration at their workplaces, issuing guidelines and briefing industry stakeholders.
Manpower Development
The bureau works with the council to train local workers and attract new entrants. Between 2009 and 2016, the council trained more than 24,000 semi-skilled workers for trades with projected labour shortages, acute ageing or recruitment difficulties. It is exploring with the industry the introduction of more effective and appropriate measures to enhance the training schemes.
Promotion of Professional Services
In September, procedures to implement liberalisation measures for the Hong Kong construction sector under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement in Guangxi took effect after the geographical coverage of the measures was extended from Guangdong to Guangxi and Fujian.
Two Hong Kong consultancy firms were engaged in 2015 to supervise two foreign aid building projects in Nepal and Cambodia, under a collaborative effort between the Development Bureau and the Ministry for Commerce. In 2016, the bureau continued discussions with the ministry on providing more foreign aid projects to Hong Kong consultancy firms; engaging the firms in different types of projects including infrastructure; and expanding the scope of their services to project planning, design, procurement, construction and final acceptance.
The Qianhai Authority has selected a project by a Hong Kong developer to practise Hong Kong's project management system. It has also compiled a register of Hong Kong's architectural, building services, quantity surveying and structural engineering firms which may provide professional services for projects funded principally by Hong Kong businesses. The Development Bureau will pursue with the Qianhai Authority the inclusion of building surveying and landscape architectural firms in the register.
Website
Development Bureau: www.devb.gov.hk
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