LCQ22: Assisting catering industry in improving business operations
19.4.2023

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Tan Yueheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (April 19): Question: There are views that in recent years, some restaurants in Hong Kong have problems of serving food of declining quality and not matching the descriptions, as well as providing substandard services, which have undermined Hong Kong's tourism appeal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) of the measures in place to assist the catering industry in Hong Kong in seizing opportunities in the post-epidemic era, and to maintain the advantage of Hong Kong as a world-famous "culinary capital"; (2) of the new measures in place to strengthen the enforcement and publicity of the legislation and regulations applicable to the catering industry; (3) whether it has provided support for the training and recruitment of staff for restaurants so as to help the industry replenish its manpower expeditiously, thereby alleviating the negative impacts brought about by manpower shortages; and (4) whether measures are in place to encourage the catering industry to undergo digital transformation to make use of innovative technologies to enhance service standards, management and operations? Reply: President, Regarding Dr the Hon Tan Yuehang's question, after consultation with the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, Education Bureau, Labour and Welfare Bureau and Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, a comprehensive reply is as follows: (1) With the Government launching the large-scale global promotional campaign of "Hello Hong Kong" in February 2023, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has started a series of activities to attract tourists to Hong Kong, including shooting video clips on various themes to introduce the magnificent travel experiences in Hong Kong, such as the East and West culinary delights, as well as collaborating with over 16 000 outlets in Hong Kong to offer exciting rewards to visitors, including the distribution of one million "Hong Kong Goodies" visitor consumption vouchers. Visitors can redeem the vouchers for a free welcome drink at participating bars, restaurants and hotels, or an offer at dining and other places. The HKTB will invite celebrity chefs from different places to visit Hong Kong to exchange culinary tips, and arrange for renowned food and beverage columnists and journalists to cover the events in person, showcasing Hong Kong's culinary delights that bring together the East and the West. The HKTB will also continue to organise the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival this year to showcase Hong Kong's appeal as the "culinary capital". The 2023-24 Budget announced the implementation of the 2023 Consumption Voucher Scheme (CVS); and electronic consumption vouchers have been disbursed to eligible persons from April 16, 2023. Consumption vouchers can be used at catering businesses and other merchants which accept payments by the relevant stored value facilities and will help to stimulate local consumer sentiment. On the other hand, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has launched new measures for enhancing the licensing system for the food business from March 1, 2023. A Professional Certification System has been introduced to streamline licence application procedures and shorten the processing time. It is initially implemented in light refreshment restaurant (LRR) and food factory licences on a pilot basis as an additional option for the applicants to obtain full licences. Moreover, given the types of cuisine and cooking methods have become more diversified over the years, the FEHD has relaxed the restrictions on the types of food items sold by LRRs. Restrictions are imposed on the cooking methods instead. This relaxation enables LRRs to sell more types of food, enhance their business operation flexibility and attract more customers. (2) The FEHD exercises control through its licensing regime, inspections and enforcement actions in accordance with the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) and the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X) to ensure that the food premises licensees comply with the licensing requirements and conditions and relevant food safety and environmental hygiene provisions. Also, FEHD regularly meets with the catering trade for exchange of views on food business licensing and regulatory matters and has actively introduced new measures and formulated guidelines with regard to the prevailing food business operation mode. In taking forward the new measures and introducing new guidelines, the FEHD has listened to trade's views through the aforementioned platforms and made timely announcement to enhance the publicity effect. For the regulation of licensed food premises, the FEHD conducts regular inspections to licensed/permitted food premises and thematic inspections and blitz operations as necessary. In 2022, the FEHD conducted close to 200 000 inspections and blitz operations to licensed/permitted food premises. (3) The Government has been liaising closely with the catering trade and offering support in respect of training and recruitment with a view to enabling sufficient manpower supply for the trade's operation. Regarding training, the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) currently provides 51 courses relating to catering to assist the unemployed and eligible in-service employees in obtaining or upgrading the relevant skills. In 2022-23 (as at end February 2023), over 27 000 trainees enrolled in relevant courses. The ERB has also reserved around 28 000 training places for catering courses in 2023-24. In addition, post-secondary institutions have the flexibility to develop programmes that meet market needs under the principle of institutional autonomy. In the 2022/23 academic year (as at end March 2023), the post-secondary institutions have offered various full-time locally-accredited sub-degree and undergraduate programmes related to the catering industry, providing a total of 441 intake places. The ERB and post-secondary institutions will adjust the curricula and number of intake places of the relevant programmes according to the market needs. As for recruitment, the Recruitment Centre for the Catering Industry of the Labour Department provides one-stop on-the-spot recruitment and employment services. Job fairs are held on every working day with a view to facilitating the filling of job vacancies of the trade as soon as possible. (4) The Digital Economy Development Committee (DEDC) chaired by the Financial Secretary was set up in June 2022 to promote digital transformation across different industries and expedite the development process of digital economy in Hong Kong. The Sub-group on Digital Transformation under DEDC is seeking to understand through different channels the challenges encountered by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the process of digital transformation and the support they need so as to formulate concrete recommendations to cater for the digital transformation of SMEs for the Government's consideration. Local catering businesses, with most of them being SMEs, should be able to benefit from the above. In addition, the Innovation and Technology Commission has launched the Technology Voucher Programme (TVP) under the Innovation and Technology Fund to subsidise local enterprises/organisations in using technological services and solutions to improve their productivity or upgrade and transform their business processes. TVP is now a regular funding programme providing subsidies for projects on a 3 (Government):1 (enterprise/organisation) matching basis. On the other hand, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) will continue to provide consultancy services, online forums and training etc, to expedite the provision of support for digitalisation of enterprises. The HKPC also introduced a free one-stop digital transformation solutions platform "Digital DIY Portal" that brings together digital transformation solutions, digital and innovation information and successful cases of digital transformation in various industries, in order to assist local enterprises (including catering businesses) in embarking on digital transformation.