The 2023-24 Budget
Circular Ref: A(23)38
Issue Date: 22 Feb 2023
Today, the Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government presented the 2023-24 Budget to the Legislative Council.
Please find his Budget speech (attached), in English and Chinese, for your reference.
Your attention is drawn particularly to the following paragraphs in the speech:
111. Currently, over 80 per cent of the world's merchandise goods still rely on sea transportation. With Hong Kong's position as a prominent international maritime centre, we have been committed to raising the industry's competitiveness. Measures include attracting more maritime enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong through tax concessions; promoting the development of smart port, for instance, by setting up a digitalised port community system, with a view to further enhancing the efficiency of Hong Kong's port and reducing its operation cost.
Promote the International High-end Maritime Service Industry
112. In order to further promote the development of Hong Kong as an international maritime centre, the Transport and Logistics Bureau will set up a task force with the aim of putting forward, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board and representatives of the high‑end maritime services industry, an action plan on the following strategies by the end of this year. These strategies include:
(a) enhancing business sectors such as ship finance, marine insurance, maritime arbitration and ship management, thereby enabling Hong Kong to become a global leading high‑end maritime service market;
(b) facilitating transformation of global maritime and port business towards zero emission;
(c) promoting the development of smart initiatives and digitalisation in the maritime industry; and
(d) promoting exchanges and collaboration among maritime industries in the GBA and those around the world.
113. I will earmark $20 million to expedite studies on strategies for promoting the high‑end maritime service industry and enhance exchanges among industries in the international arena and the GBA. The scale of the annual flagship event Hong Kong Maritime Week will also be expanded.
137. Since its launch in 2014, the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund (MATF) has benefited more than 15 000 students and practitioners, and supported the industries in their promotional and publicity work. I will inject $200 million into the MATF to support manpower training of the logistics industry, promote the development of high‑end, high value‑added and smart logistics, and encourage the industry to collaborate with tertiary institutions and professional organisations in attracting more young people to join the industry. In addition, we will launch a Maritime Services Traineeship Scheme this year to provide traineeship opportunities for young people who aspire to a career in maritime law, with a view to nurturing more home‑grown maritime lawyers.
200. In October 2021, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development announced the international tax reform proposals to address base erosion and profit shifting (abbreviated as BEPS 2.0). A global minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent will be introduced on large multinational enterprise (MNE) groups with global turnover of at least 750 million euros. Hong Kong will implement the global minimum effective tax rate in accordance with international consensus so as to safeguard our taxing rights and maintain the competitiveness of our tax regime. The Government has been closely liaising with the trade in this regard while closely monitoring the implementation plan of other jurisdictions. Hong Kong plans to apply the global minimum effective tax rate on these large MNE groups and implement the domestic minimum top-up tax starting from 2025 onwards. It is estimated that this will bring in tax revenue of about $15 billion per year for the Government. We will launch a consultation exercise to allow MNE groups to make early preparation.
111. 目前全球貨物貿易逾八成依靠航運。香港作為重要的國際航運中心，一直致力提升行業競爭力，包括通過稅務優惠措施吸引更多海運企業落戶香港，並推動「智慧港口」發展，例如建立共用的數碼化系統，進一步提升港口效率和減低成本。
推動國際高端航運服務業
112. 為進一步推動香港國際航運中心的發展，運輸及物流局將成立專責小組，聯同香港海運港口局及高端航運服務業界代表，在今年年底或之前就以下策略提出行動綱領，包括：
（一） 提升船舶融資、海事保險、海事仲裁和船舶管理等業務，讓香港成為全球領先的高端航運服務市場；
（二） 助力全球海運和港口業務向零碳排放轉型；
（三） 推動航運智能化和數字化發展；及
（四） 推進粵港澳大灣區及國際航運界的交流協作。
113. 我將預留二千萬元，加快推動高端航運服務業的策略研究，以及加強業界在國際及大灣區的交流。每年一度的旗艦活動「香港海運周」規模也會擴大。
137. 「海運及空運人才培訓基金」自二零一四年推行以來，惠及超過一萬五千名學生與從業員，亦協助業界推廣及宣傳。我會向基金注資二億元，加強物流業人才培訓，推動高端、高增值及智慧物流的發展，並鼓勵業界與大專院校及專業團體合作，吸引更多年輕人入行。我們亦會於今年推出「海事人才培訓資助計劃」，為有志投身海事法律工作的青年提供見習機會，以培育更多本地海事律師。
200. 經濟合作與發展組織於二零二一年十月公布應對侵蝕稅基及轉移利潤的國際稅務改革方案（有關方案簡稱BEPS 2.0），引入全球最低實際稅率百分之十五以涵蓋營業額至少達七億五千萬歐元的大型跨國企業集團。香港將會根據國際共識落實全球最低實際稅率，以保障徵稅權和維持稅務競爭力。政府一直就此與業界保持緊密溝通，亦密切留意其他稅務管轄區的實施計劃。香港計劃由二零二五年起對這些大型跨國企業集團實施全球最低實際稅率，以及落實本地最低補足稅，估計屆時每年可為政府帶來約一百五十億元稅業集團盡早作出準備。