Hong Kong policy address to unveil bold youth housing and mediation initiatives

Hong Kong’s leader will unveil two bold initiatives on housing and mediation in his policy address, the South China Morning Post has learned, with the government planning to boost home ownership rates among young couples and prioritise settling official commercial disputes through the city’s mediation body.

The new measures, to be unveiled by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday, aimed to strengthen the city’s status as a global mediation capital while improving livelihoods, government sources said.

“Hong Kong is actively building itself into a capital of mediation. Hence, authorities will prioritise including the International Organisation for Mediation (IOMed) as a dispute resolution option in government contracts involving international commercial matters, as well as in international agreements signed by the Hong Kong government,” an insider said.

According to the source, authorities will also encourage the IOMed to handle disputes in emerging industries such as commodity trading and the space economy, and explore setting up a dedicated panel of mediators for commodity trading to lower cross-border transaction risks and attract overseas businesses to the city.