In discussion: Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang (centre) attends the third working meeting of the HK/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference.

Hong Kong and Guangdong have agreed to upgrade their Special Panel on Town Planning by merging it with the Expert Group on Information Exchange.

The decision was made at today's third working meeting of the HK/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference.

The new Expert Group on HK/Guangdong Town Planning & Development will be launched under the Joint Conference. A proposal will be submitted to the upcoming Seventh Meeting of the Joint Conference for confirmation.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang said the upgrade will benefit the co-ordination of planning for the region as a whole.

"Both sides hope to make better use of the new expert group to work on more preliminary, visionary and strategic planning, and to carry out more advance studies on major infrastructure projects," he said.

Satisfactory progress

Mr Tsang and Guangdong Province Executive Vice-Governor Tang Bingquan are satisfied with the progress made in carrying out the co-operation items since the Joint Conference's second working meeting.

They also went through a number of projects which will begin in the second half of the year. These include:

* the 2004 Dongguan Seminar on Intellectual Property & the Development of Small & Medium Enterprises in late May;

* co-hosting the Greater Pearl River Delta (HK/Guangdong) On-line Investment Seminar in June;

* jointly taking part in an international tourism expo in South Korea in early June;

* organising business visits to Shaoguan and Qingyuan in mid or late June;

* completing the construction of the interfacing pier at the southern end of the Shenzhen portion of the HK-Shenzhen Western Corridor in June to connect the Shenzhen and Hong Kong sections of the corridor;

* a visit to Mainland enterprises by Hong Kong universities and research institutes in July to match the former's demand with the latter's advanced technology;

* jointly hosting the International Sporting Goods Fair by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in Guangzhou in September;

* joint trade promotion activities in London in late October;

* co-hosting the second Pearl River Delta Software Industry Forum with Guangdong in Guangzhou in the fourth quarter;

* holding the second seminar on Guangdong/Hong Kong trade and economic co-operation in the second half of the year;

* convening the Fifth Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural Co-operation Meeting in the second half of the year; and,

* completing installation of air-conditioning systems at the Lo Wu cross-boundary footbridge and the works of the new cross-boundary vehicular bridge at the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Control Point towards the end of the year.

More effort needed

Despite the initial achievements in the implementation of CEPA, both governments agreed both have to continue their efforts to meet the aspiration of industries.

Mr Tsang proposed his counterpart consider providing further one-stop inquiry and vetting services on the basis of the existing facilitating measures.

He also said the Trade Development Council will continue to organise business visits to Shaoguan and Qingyuan in June to further explore business opportunities in western Guangdong.

It was also decided that the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the Joint Conference will be held in early August.