HONG KONG: Hong Kong held a maiden voyage ceremony for southbound yacht travel from Guangdong province on Friday, marking the official launch of a new scheme to facilitate yacht travel between Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Speaking at the ceremony, Michael Wong Wai-lun, acting financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said Hong Kong is actively developing into an Asian yachting hub and that the HKSAR government is implementing various measures to promote the yacht economy.
Wong said the HKSAR government is fully committed to building four new yacht clubs at the airport, Lamma Island, Aberdeen and Hung Hom, which would provide more than 1,100 berths in total.
He said northbound yacht travel from Hong Kong and southbound travel from Guangdong were mutually beneficial, adding that he believed the initiative would create a new sea passage for residents and tourists between the two regions.
The move follows the rollout of northbound yacht travel from Hong Kong in June and the signing of a bilateral framework in September, which established a standardised mechanism to streamline cross-boundary clearance for Guangdong yacht owners.- Xinhua
