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Planning, Land and Infrastructure
In 2015, the council received 649 applications for the Subcontractor Registration Scheme and approved 610, bringing the totals to 8,854 and 8,316 respectively since the scheme was introduced in 2003.
Construction Workers Registration
As at December, the council had about 369,000 registered construction workers. A new requirement to classify 'designated workers for designated skills' under the Construction Workers Registration Ordinance will come into effect in April 2017. This seeks to raise the status of construction workers by statutorily recognising their skill levels through registration in designated trades. To ensure smooth implementation of the requirement, the council is conducting an extensive publicity campaign and deploying outreach teams to help eligible workers apply for registration at their workplaces.
Construction Manpower Development
The council continued its efforts to enhance manpower supply by training local workers and attracting new entrants, particularly young people, to join the industry. Training initiatives included an Enhanced Construction Manpower Training Scheme carried out by the council and Development Bureau. This had trained more than 8,700 semi-skilled workers by the end of 2015 for trades with projected labour shortages, acute ageing or recruitment difficulties. In 2015, the council rolled out two pilot schemes to further raise the skill levels of the labour force. One was dedicated to training ethnic minorities who had received registered general worker status to become semi-skilled workers, while the other was to train semi-skilled workers to become skilled workers.
Promotion of Professional Services
The Development Bureau continued discussions in 2015 with the Hong Kong construction industry and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on liberalisation measures to allow Hong Kong construction professionals to provide services on the Mainland. Following the signing of the CEPA Agreement on Trade in Services in November, Hong Kong professionals who have obtained the Mainland's construction-related qualifications, including urban planners and supervision engineers, are allowed to register and practise in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian.
In April 2014, the Development Bureau and the Ministry of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Co-operation to facilitate the engagement of Hong Kong consultants to undertake supervision work for the Mainland's foreign aid construction projects. Two projects, in Nepal and Cambodia, were awarded to two Hong Kong consultancy firms in 2015 for pilot implementation. The two projects began in April and July respectively.
Website
Development Bureau: www.devb.gov.hk
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