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Following is a transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session on the 2013 Policy Address at the Legislative Council Complex today (January 16):
Reporter: Mrs Lam, do you say there's no surprise in the Policy Address? There's no consultation on the sexual orientation discrimination laws, and there won't be a consultation on universal suffrage soon.
Chief Secretary for Administration: Well, this Policy Address is very, very comprehensive. It reflects the collective efforts of not only the Politically Appointed Officials, but also all the civil servants who have been working very hard in the last few months to deliver plans and proposals in accordance with the guiding principles established by the Chief Executive, particularly in his Manifesto.
Of course, whether a particular policy, a particular direction, is a surprise, it really depends on your expectation and so on. But I would say that it really covers all the main areas of concern of the community in terms of economic development, in terms of housing and land, poverty alleviation and also environmental protection. I hope that many people will also rate this Policy Address pretty high in terms of its environmental protection determination, in improving Hong Kong's air quality, in retiring the diesel commercial vehicles, in dealing with emissions from marine vessels and so on. It is a very comprehensive blueprint as far as protecting the environment is concerned, and it has also tackled a few longstanding problems that have been haunting us for a while. So I would appeal to friends of the media as well as people of Hong Kong to spend a moment to go through the Policy Address and also to give us their needed support so that we could take forward our work with a great diligence and also the one heart and one mission that the Chief Executive has advocated. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:59
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