Supporting Enterprises

To help enterprises lower their operating costs in a difficult external economic environment and to minimise unemployment, the following measures will be introduced:

• Enhance the existing SME Financing Guarantee Scheme by increasing the maximum loan guarantee ratio to 80% for which the Government will provide a guarantee commitment of $100 billion while the guarantee fee will be lowered.
  
• The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation will offer new policy terms which will include special concessions for SME policyholders who will be allowed to insure their exports only for places and buyers of their choice, and will be entitled to various premium discounts.
  
• Waive business registration fees for 2012–13. This proposal will cost the Government $1.9 billion.
  
• Reduce profits tax for 2011–12 by 75%, subject to a ceiling of $12,000. This proposal will cost the Government $1.12 billion.
  
• Halve the charges for import and export declarations and abolish capital duty levied on local companies. These measures will cost the Government $840 million a year.
  

Preserving Employment

• Earmark $220 million to support the Construction Industry Council in enhancing manpower training to bring fresh blood into the industry to meet the demand created by future infrastructure developments.
  
• The Employees Retraining Board will offer 130,000 training places for the unemployed and people seeking employment. Adequate resources have been reserved for providing an additional 30,000 training places to meet contingencies.
  
• The Vocational Training Council will set up an International Cuisine College which is expected to admit its first cohort of students in the 2014–15 academic year. It will provide more than 2,000 places a year.
  
• Inject $100 million into the Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprises Project, under which funding is granted to non-government organisations to set up small enterprises employing people with disabilities.
  
• Continue to pursue the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme, Employment Programme for the Middle-aged, and Work Orientation and Placement Scheme.
  These projects benefit 20,000 job seekers each year and involve an annual expenditure of $175 million.
  

Increasing Land Supply

Residential and Business Sites:

• It is estimated that the housing land supply in aggregate for 2012–13 will provide some 30,000 private residential flats.
  
• The Application List in the Land Sale Programme will include 47 residential sites, of which half are new sites. They will provide some 13,500 units.
  
• A public consultation will be launched on two property projects above the West Rail Kam Sheung Road Station and Pat Heung Depot of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation. It is estimated that these projects will provide about 8,700 flats.
  
• Increase the supply of business sites by introducing measures including “Energizing Kowloon East”, revitalising industrial buildings and relocating government departments from core business districts.

Subsidised Housing:

• Total production of public rental housing flats will be 75,000 in the five-year period starting from 2011–12 with an aim to maintain the average waiting time
  at around 3 years. The production volume will be adjusted when necessary.
  
• 6 sites in Shatin, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and Yuen Long have been initially identified for the first batch of developments under the new Home Ownership Scheme.
  
• The Government has earmarked a number of sites for about 5,000 flats under My Home Purchase Plan. The first development project at Tsing Yi will provide 1,000 flats which will be completed in 2014. Application for pre-letting will begin in the fourth quarter of this year. The second development project at Shatin will provide about 700 units.

Urban Renewal:

• Accelerate the renewal of old industrial areas to release more sites for residential or commercial development.
  
• Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is invited to launch redevelopment projects of industrial buildings in the form of a pilot scheme. Subject to the results of
  the pilot scheme, injection will be made to the URA when necessary.