Hong Kong is facing an acute shortage of land supply. The Government agrees with the Task Force on Land Supply that there is no single option that can solve the land problem. We will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach to increase land supply. The Lantau Tomorrow Vision (the Vision) has put forward a proposal to develop artificial islands near Kau Yi Chau (KYC) to make available larger pieces of land, thereby making possible the planning for sites needed by the society and meeting the development needs of various sectors of Hong Kong. On Tuesday, the Government will consult the Panel on Development of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on conducting a detailed planning and engineering study that focuses on the KYC Artificial Islands of around 1 000 hectares (ha) and the related studies on strategic transport infrastructure. Here, I would like to respond to some queries raised by the public recently......

The construction industry has been playing a vital role in promoting Hong Kong’s economic and social development. The overall construction expenditure of the public and private sectors in the next few years is forecast to exceed $300 billion per year in Hong Kong, indicating a keen demand for skilled workers. Over the years, the Construction Industry Council (CIC) has been proactively offering training for potential young entrants and in-service workers. The Hong Kong Construction Industry Trade Testing Centre, under the CIC, in Aberdeen provides advanced trade testing services for workers to acquire recognised qualifications to enhance their professional status. This time, I have invited examiners from the CIC to give us a detailed introduction......

A sound and comprehensive infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, communication facilities is critical to the establishment of an efficient and liveable city. Likewise, quality digital infrastructure is essential for Hong Kong’s smart city development. The Financial Secretary has announced in the 2019-20 Budget that the Government will earmark $300 million to expedite the development of the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI) for consolidation, exchange, sharing and innovative application of geospatial data and make available the high-quality three-dimensional (3D) digital maps of the whole territory in phases. Here, I have invited Mr CHAN Chung-ching, Thomas, Director of Lands, to introduce the Lands Department’s (LandsD’s) work on these two fronts and the way forward......

Previously, I took you to visit a number of the revitalised historic building projects. Recently, a facelift has been given to yet another former magistracy. The Former Fanling Magistracy is one of the projects under Batch III of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme (Revitalisation Scheme) of the Development Bureau. With the restoration completed at the end of last year, the building has been transformed into the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) Leadership Institute, due to officially open at the end of March. Earlier, I visited the North District and made a tour of the facilities of the institute. There, two youth cultural ambassadors doubling as docents took us through various areas to see how a solemn court building has morphed into a youth centre......

On 31 December, 2018, the Task Force on Land Supply (Task Force) submitted its report to the Government. Once again I would like to express my wholehearted thanks to the Task Force for its effort on increasing land supply and forging consensus in the community over the past year and a half. In particular, the five-month public engagement exercise conducted under an all-embracing, cross-sectoral and multi-channel approach has heightened public awareness of issues of land resources and effectively engaged the public in discussions on and prioritisation of different land supply options. The Government decided to give full acceptance to the Task Force’s recommendations on land supply strategy and eight land supply options worthy of priority studies and implementation after detailed examination of the report......