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香港與內地法律專業聯合會 (HKMLPA) 法律論壇

香港的海事爭議解決 : 現狀與未來 梁振英2021年11月2日 (撮要,原文為英文):

我想把重點放在「未來」,尤其是香港的法律服務業在深圳河兩岸的未來發展可以作甚麼貢獻。

20年前的11月,我發起的《香港專業聯盟》(Hong Kong Coalition of Professional Services) 成立。當時,大律師公會和律師會都成為會員團體。專業聯盟在成立後的蓬勃發展已經是香港成功歷史的一部份;現在,香港有5個專業十分依賴非常龐大的內地市場。

歷史說明,今後香港的專業服務業如果要繼續尋求顯著的增長,就必須打進內地市場。有人會問:「能行嗎?」我認為可以!問題在於我們如何構建國家所需的新服務門類,並有力推廣。而且,要成事的話,我們必須懂得怎麼做,而且要持之以恆地去做。

未來,我們必須物色和培育新的專業服務門類,我認為海事服務,包括海事法律服務和海事調解服務,都值得我們高度重視。

中國已經是世界的航海大國,航運產業正在急速增長。國家現在需要先進和可靠的海事服務–香港既是近水樓台,也是責無旁貸。

31年前頒布的《基本法》,說明了中央政府當時已經重視香港航運業的重要性。在《基本法》第五章關於「經濟」的31條條文中,有4條是關於「航運」的。其中的第125條,列明「香港特別行政區經中央人民政府授權繼續進行船舶登記,並根據香港特別行政區的法律以『中國香港』的名義頒發有關證件」。可見船舶登記的重要性。

31年後,今年年初國家通過了《十四五規劃》,並指出「支持香港提升國際金融、航運、貿易中心和國際航空樞紐地位」。這裏的關鍵詞是「提升」。「提升」不是「擴大」。「擴大」意味的是建造更多的貨櫃碼頭。這並不是今日各位聚首一堂的原因–「提升」才是。我們要在價值鏈中力爭上游,便要明白香港人在辦公室做航運服務比在碼頭搬貨,對國家、對香港和對從業員都更有價值。

當我們望向深圳河彼岸,我們會看見前海被指定為粵港合作的重要平台之一,當中也包括現代服務行業的發展。

放眼「未來」,我們應該設想香港在前海發展包括海事調解服務在內的專業海事服務,利用其特殊的政制瞄準整個內地市場,服務全國。香港能在內地提供的業務量一定遠超我們在香港向內地提供的 – 香港服務提供者走進內地擴展是必由之路。這便是我在廣州南沙設立諮詢委員會服務中心的初衷。該中心能為16 個香港非牟利團體,包括律師會和大律師公會通過香港專業聯盟,提供前線支援。這也是我下週會帶同海事服務代表團前往深圳前海的目的。在場的陳曉峰律師也會隨團前往。

就在三年前的這個月,習近平主席在人民大會堂慶祝國家改革開放40週年的活動時接見了港澳代表團。習主席回顧了港澳各界人士對國家發展的六個作用,然後提出四個期望,其中一個是「更加積極主動參與國家治理實踐」。對此,香港的法律界應該積極響應。我們可以通過過去的成功經驗提振信心,跨過深圳河,逢山開路,遇水搭橋,「擼起袖子」放手幹。

Legal Forum by HKMLPA Maritime Dispute Resolution in HK: Current and Future (Excerpt of a speech) CY Leung 02/11/2021

I shall focus my remarks on “the future”, particularly on what HK can do for the country, to drive the development of the HK legal profession on both sides of the boundary in the future.

20 years ago to this month, the Coalition of Professional Services was founded. The Bar Association and the Law Society were 2 of the 10 member bodies. The rest was also history. Now 5 Hong Kong professions rely heavily on the Mainland market, which as we all know is huge.

History tells us that the only way to significantly grow HK’s professional services is to break into the mainland market. Can the legal professions break into the Mainland market? I think we can. It’s a matter of how we formulate new services that the country needs and promote these services. It’s also a matter of how smart and how hard we try.

In the future, we need to identify and nurture new service types. Maritime services, including maritime legal services, including maritime dispute resolution services are definitely on my radar screen.

What do we have on the table? China is now one of the largest maritime nations in the world. And this sector is fast growing. The country needs advanced and dependable maritime services. HK is well placed.

Let’s look at the Basic Law. As we all know, the BL was promulgated more than 3 decades ago. Even then, the Central Authorities saw the importance of shipping. Of the 31 articles under the chapter on “Economy”, 4 are on “shipping”. One of these four, namely #125, states “The HKSAR shall be authorised by the Central People’s Government to continue to maintain a shipping register and issue related certificates under its legislation, using the name ‘HK, China’”. Now, we know how important the HK shipping register has become.

Fast forward 31 years to early this year when the national 5-year plan was approved. The Plan “supports HK to elevate its status as an international finance, transportation and trade centre”. The key word is “elevate”. It did not say “expand”. “Expansion” would have meant building more container terminals. “Elevation” is exactly why we are gathered here today. We need to move up the value chain. Desk based work is much more valuable than shore based work.

And if we cast our eyes over the Shenzhen River, we see Qianhai being designated, among other things, as an important platform for GD-HK cooperation, including the development of modern service sectors.

In the “future”, we should envision HK developing martime services, including maritime dispute resolution services, in Qianhai, using its special policies to target the entire Mainland market. The volume of services provided by HK in the Mainland would be much much larger than the volume of services provided in HK to the Mainland. HK in the Mainland will be the future. That’s the rationale behind my setting up of a service centre in Nansha District of GZ, which provides frontline support to 16 HK non-profit organisations, including the Law Society and the Bar Association through the CPS. That’s also the purpose of bringing a maritime delegation to Qianhai next week. Nick Chan will be with the delegation.

3 years ago to this month, President Xi received a HK and Macao delegation in the People’s Hall of Assembly to celebrate 40 years of reforms. The President reviewed the 6 contributions HK and Macao had made to the Country. He then turned to the “future”, and detailed what h hopes HK and Macao should do on the four fronts. One of these was “to more proactively assist the Country in the implementation of governance”. The HK legal professions should rise to the call. We could draw confidence from our past contributions, think big, bang our heads on the wall a few times, and do big.


My Comment:

在國內開拓市場搵真銀,一定比香港搞搞震賺埋啲陰騭錢好。

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