HONG KONG: Hong Kong should seek to enhance cooperation with Guangdong province with a view to fostering the competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta region as a whole, said a study report.

In announcing its recommendations on Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation, the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council spelled out industrial development and the livelihoods of people as two major areas of cooperation. The recommendations come in response to the Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta.

The Outline was released by the National Development and Reform Commission in January this year.

The major proposals of the study include measures to increase information, passenger, logistics and capital flows. There are also proposals regarding reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications, simplification of procedures, lowering of entry thresholds, fostering quality living areas, welfare and education services, as well as the facilitation of cross-border living.

"The Outline contains many innovative and anticipatory proposals, and we must read it with a liberal mindset in order to grasp the opportunities," Victor Fung, chairman of Greater+ Pearl River Delta Business Council, said yesterday.

As an interim measure, the study report suggested Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong provincial authorities seek the central government's consent to raise Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation to the state level and incorporate that cooperation into the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).

In the mid- or longer-term, laws should be made to safeguard and regulate the cooperation mechanisms, he said.

On education and manpower training, Fung said he would welcome the chance for local universities to open educational institutions with total autonomy in Guangdong.

On matters of livelihood, subgroup convener Cheng Yiu-tong proposed use of clean fuel and standardization of environmental protection yardsticks in the long run. For the benefit of Hong Kong people working in Guangdong, education, medical and welfare services should be consolidated.

For example, assistance should be offered to children who need to attend school across the border. He noted the possibility of setting up schools for mainland children of Hong Kong parents so that they no longer are required to come to Hong Kong to attend schools.

To quicken integration of transport services, it has been proposed that passengers be able to use transport services in both places with a single stored-value card.

(HK Edition 09/25/2009 page1)