Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang said Wednesday he would push ahead with 10 large-scale infrastructure projects in the southern Chinese territory.
"Infrastructure development can bring about huge economic benefits," Tsang said during the first policy address since his reelection in March, citing potential benefits in terms of employment and economic drive.
The projects would create some 250,000 jobs in addition to an annual added value of more than 100 billion HK dollars (12.82 billion U.S. dollars) to the economy, he said.
Three of the 10 projects, which form a major block of the policy address, fell in the category of transport facilities.
The seven-kilometer South Island Line, costing more than 7 billion HK dollars (0.9 billion U.S. dollars), would further extend the highly developed mass transit system on Hong Kong's namesake major island.
The Executive Council would soon examine a proposal submitted by the MTR Corporation Limited with a view to authorizing it to proceed with engineering design, Tsang said.
Construction work on the Sha Tin to Central Link connecting the Northeast New Territories and Hong Kong Island were expected to start in 2010 while a third project might be completed in 2016.
Cross-boundary infrastructure between China's special administrative regions of Hong Kong, Macao, and the neighboring mainland cities would improve, too, with the planned Guangzhou- Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport Cooperation and the development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop.
The West Kowloon Cultural District, an often talked-about project recently, was "a strategic plan to promote the long-term development of arts and culture, supporting Hong Kong as a creative economy and Asia's world city," the chief said.
Also falling in the category of urban development plans were the Kai Tak Development Plan aimed at turning the vast ex-airport to something of an entertainment facility, and the New Development Areas aimed at developing new towns for the densely populated city.
Source: Xinhua
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