Lam proposes expanding number of govt bureaus to 15

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor proposed on Wednesday teh creation of a new bureau to handle culture, sports and tourism affairs, and streamlining bureaus to focus on affairs related to youth policy, housing and pandemic control.

Revealing the plan during the first meeting of the seventh Legislative Council, Lam said the government will submit the reform proposal to LegCo today and hand it over to the new chief executive-elect, to be elected on March 27, to consider whether to carry out the reorganization plan.

Hopefully, the plan will be approved and ready in June before the new administration takes office on July 1, Lam said.

Under the plan, the government will establish the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to be in charge of culture, sports and tourism affairs. This will accelerate Hong Kong’s process to become a hub for arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world as specified under the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

The Transport and Housing Bureau will be divided into two separate bureaus — one that will focus on housing policies, especially the acceleration of public-housing construction; the other to take charge of transportation and logistics issues, to improve Hong Kong’s status as an international shipping and air hub under the national plan.

Four other bureaus will be renamed and reconstructed.

The Food and Health Bureau will be revamped to focus on medical and health policies to prioritize health issues, such as hospital development, traditional Chinese medicine development, and primary care, in addition to anti-pandemic work.

The Home Affairs Bureau will be renamed the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau to highlight policies focusing on district administration and youth development.

The Innovation and Technology Bureau will be called the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, to promote the reindustrialization of innovation application and intelligent production.

The Environment Bureau will become the Environment and Ecology Bureau, taking over some issues that are currently the responsibility of the Food and Health Bureau, such as food safety, agriculture, fisheries, and veterinary public health.

The chief secretary for administration, the city’s No 2 official, will supervise nine bureaus, and the financial secretary will head the other six.

Lam also proposed that the next administration consider appointing deputy secretaries of departments to steer large-scale development projects such as the Northern Metropolis and the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, and affairs related to safeguarding national security, climate change and manpower policy.