Message from Legislative Councillor (Functional
Constituency Representative for Wholesale & Retail)
立法會議員之話 批發及零售界功能組別代表
Hon. Vincent Fang, SBS, JP
方剛先生
After 12 years serving on the Legislative Council, I am planning my retirement
when the current LegCo session closes at the end of September. During
my term in LegCo, Hong Kong has faced many challenges in particular the
onslaught of the financial tsunami which dampened the global economy.
Nonetheless, we are at the worst of times in terms of the political situation,
community sentiment and business outlook. I felt blessed to be able to quit
the "political hot kitchen". In such dire times of our retail industry when the
Government and our trade need to stimulate the economy through close
collaboration, I also had a sense of regret towards my constituent leaving at
this juncture.
When I first assumed my role as a legislator, Hong Kong has just undergone
the SARS epidemic. With the introduction of Individual Visit Scheme by the
Central Government which led to a revival of the retail trade and the overall
economy, we have seen a fairly long period of high growth. But as the
Chinese saying goes, the sea can float and also sink a ship, the enormous
number of Mainland visitors to Hong Kong over the years has brought
tremendous pressure on our capacity to handle tourists and also affected
the daily lives of those living here. This has given rise to the wave of anti
Mainland visitor sentiment and the deepening of the conflict between
Hong Kong and the Mainland. The hasty implementation of the baby
formula export restriction policy not only aggravated the situation but also
provided a point of contention for the anti Mainlanders faction whenever a
suggestion to remove the restrictions was raised.
There were calls to increase the number of Mainland cities in the Individual
Visit Scheme. But I believe this is not the right time for such a change – not
least until the Mainland/Hong Kong tension is eased and the introduction
of an effective diversion of shopping tourists as well as the mitigation of
nuisance to local residents by parallel goods trading. It will be counter
productive if the Individual Visit Scheme is widened to other Mainland cities
today, and such a move will become a major contentious issue during the
LegCo electioneering period.
經過
12
年的立法會服務生涯，本人會在是屆立
法會任期
9
月底結束後退休。在任期內，香港經
歷了許多的挑戰，尤其是金融海嘯引致全球經
濟放緩帶來的衝擊；然而，香港目前面對的政
治形勢、社會氣氛、營商環境和經濟前景，可
以說是歷年來最嚴峻和黯淡的。因此，儘管慶
倖能離開這個“政治熱廚房＂，但在零售行業
仍處於調整寒冬期，亟需政府和商界共同推動
刺激經濟措施的這個時候卸任，難免覺得對業
界有些虧欠！
當年接任立法會議員時，香港剛經歷了“沙士
疫症＂的衝擊，靠著中央政府開放部分城市居
民來港個人遊，帶動了零售業以至整體經濟的
復蘇，零售行業更經歷了一個頗長的高峰期。
可惜水能載舟，也能覆舟，港府多年來未有因
應大量內地旅客來港去增加旅遊及商業設施
等配套，令遊客影響了部份本港市民的日常生
活，結果被一些所謂本土人士借之衝擊內地遊
客，重重地打擊了旅遊和零售行業，也激化了
中港矛盾。在
2014
年農曆新年期間倉促推出的
限奶令，不但成中港矛盾升溫的催化劑，更進
一步成牽制政府的一項手段，每當有聲音提出
撤銷限奶令，就會被激進人士借題發起新一輪
的反內地遊客行動！
這兩年不斷有聲音要求中央政府增加個人遊城
市，惟本人認為，在中港矛盾未獲得緩解、在
來港購物的內地遊客未能有效分流、及水貨交
收行為對地區居民構成的滋擾獲得有效管理之
前，現階段開放更多內地遊客來港並非良策，
更可能會適得其反，促使更多針對內地遊客的
行為出現，尤其是正值立法會選舉這段期間，
任何敏感議題都會被無限擴大。
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