The Government will strengthen promotion of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development following the promulgation of its Outline Development Plan, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today.

Answering lawmakers’ queries at the Chief Executive’s Question Time, Mrs Lam said the bay area development is closely related to the Hong Kong people.

She noted that the Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau has already set up a website to introduce the bay area, and will use the Outline Development Plan to further elaborate on the details.

The bureau will be co-ordinating the effort, while most of the other policy bureaus will also take part to help related sectors and stakeholders understand the development plan and explore bay area opportunities.

The Chief Executive said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has a lot to do during the implementation process, including launching initiatives and liaising with the governments of Guangdong and Macau.

She said that more importantly, the HKSAR Government needs to get the support of central ministries and this is where the leading group for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area led by Vice Premier Han Zheng will play a key role.

On a question about the development plan’s call for a study on the provision of land-based cross-boundary transfer services for non-emergency and non-critically ill patients, Mrs Lam clarified that the development plan refers to Hong Kong residents.

Currently, if these patients want to come back to Hong Kong for medical treatment, they would be transferred by an ambulance to the boundary crossing, then transferred to another ambulance to be sent to a hospital, she said. The proposed arrangement is to facilitate Hong Kong people on the Mainland to return to Hong Kong for medical treatment, Mrs Lam added.