Better trade facilitation and customs clearance between Hong Kong and the Pan Pearl River Delta (PRD) will boost Hong Kong's position as a premier global transport hub and further promote trade development, Chief Executive Donald Tsang said Thursday.

While visiting the Customs & Excise Department, Tsang was briefed by Commissioner of the department Timothy Tong on plans to form the Pan-PRD Customs Trade Facilitation Forum & Regional Customs Commissioners Joint Conference next year. Tsang supported holding the event in Hong Kong.

Customs chiefs from the nine provinces in the Pan Pearl River Delta and Macao will be invited to attend and exchange views on customs clearance. Arrangements will be made for them to meet with local business people to explore trade and investment opportunities.

It is hoped substantial progress will be made on a number of initiatives, including the airport cargo point-to-point express lane and a simplified clearance procedure for Hong Kong cargo entering the mainland.

Tsang learned that a Shenzhen Bay Port clearance expert group has been formed by Hong Kong and Shenzhen customs authorities. Both sides have agreed on the laying of an additional cable at Shenzhen Bay Port for the transmission of x-ray cargo images and cargo examination results.

On electronic data interchange for Customs clearance, the mainland has launched a portal website and an automatic clearance system for road vehicles. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Customs is involved in the implementation of the Electronic Advance Road Cargo Information Project. Both jurisdictions are exploring the feasibility of electronic cargo data sharing and the speeding up of cross-boundary cargo flow through the expert group.

Source: Xinhua