HK Disney theme park decision put off 'til October

Halloween deadline set for gov't, Mouse to pact

By MAUREEN SULLIVAN

HONG KONG -- The decision to build a Disney theme park here has been put off for at least four months to allow time for further negotiations, the government said Thursday.

Officials said "significant progress" has been made in the past four months of talks with the Walt Disney Co., and the two sides have set a new deadline of Oct. 31 to reach a "definitive agreement."

"It will be clear by then if a deal is reachable," tourism commissioner Mike Rowse told an SRO news conference.

Officials would not offer any details about the talks nor say what Disney's demands are.

Disney has not commented.

'Thorough analysis'

"The Disney project is highly complex and requires thorough analysis of the economic costs and benefits and careful evaluation of the technical and financial issues," Rowse said in a joint statement with economic services secretary Stephen Ip.

"So we need a further period of serious discussions to make sure that the terms of any agreement on a Disney project are mutually acceptable and can be reached in sufficient detail for both sides to be comfortable," the statement added.

Rowse ticked off road layouts, transportation links and mud problems at a reclamation site as being among the many nitty-gritty issues that need to be addressed.

The officials said Disney and the government will continue to assign teams dedicated to the project.

The officials added that "in order not to lose momentum," the government will go ahead with a request to rezone the site on Lantau, an outlying island that's home to the city's new airport. The government's goal is to develop the site into a "major tourism area which will encompass a major international theme park."