ENG-2004 — Page 174

140 Commerce and Industry

Specific efforts were also made by the Government to promote Hong Kong's professional services. These included the $100 million Professional Services Development Assistance Scheme, launched in 2002 to provide funding support, on an equal matching basis, for eligible professional service sectors to organise projects to enhance the external competitiveness and standard of Hong Kong's professional services. Media publicity has also been carried out in the Pearl River Delta area to promote Hong Kong's professional services there.

Business Facilitation

The Government's Helping Business Programme aims to create a more business- friendly environment, thereby maintaining Hong Kong's position as one of the best places in the world for doing business. Measures are initiated under the programme to make government regulations and procedures more business-friendly and reduce compliance costs to business. During the year, 15 studies and projects were completed or initiated; and over 30 recommendations for improvements were implemented.

An Economic and Employment Council (EEC), comprising representatives from the political, business, labour and academic sectors as well as concerned Directors of Bureaux, was set up by the Government in January. The EEC and its sub-group on Business Facilitation guide the programme. The current foci of the programme are on sector-specific reviews, particularly the regulatory framework impacting on the construction, real estate, retail and entertainment business sectors. Industry representatives provide input through their involvement in the review task forces.

The Business Facilitation Division of the Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit under the Financial Secretary's Office has taken over the above functions from the Commerce and Industry Branch since June. The unit also provides support to the EEC, the sub-group and its task forces.

Trade Documentation

As a free port, the HKSAR maintains minimal import and export documentation requirements. Most products do not need licences to enter or leave Hong Kong. Licences or notifications are only required if the HKSAR needs to fulfil its international obligations, to protect public health, safety, environment, or intellectual property rights, or to ensure Hong Kong's unrestricted access to high technologies and high- tech products. Products that require import or export licences include textiles and clothing, strategic commodities, rice, chilled or frozen meat and

meat and poultry, pharmaceutical products and medicines, pesticides, radioactive substances and irradiating apparatus, and optical disc mastering and replication equipment. The Import and Export (Facilitation) Ordinance 2003, which came into operation in January 2004, provided the relaxation of import, export and transhipment control of nine categories of articles, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, left-hand-drive vehicles and ozone depleting substances, from licensing controls. The changes facilitate trade while not affecting the HKSAR's commitment to fulfill international obligations.