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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at a media session on the death of a Mainland tourist after attending the Chief Executive's Question and Answer Session at the Legislative Council today (October 22):
Reporter: (On the death of a Mainland tourist and how to deal with cheap tours.)
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: This is a very very unfortunate incident. We are currently assisting the victim's family in all the follow-up actions and providing all assistance that is required. I think that is of paramount concern. Secondly, we will have to look into whether anybody or any organisation had breached the rule that has been laid out to deal with this sort of incident. And the Police, in the meantime, is proactively investigating this incident to find out exactly what happened. As you can see, charges have been laid and the court will handle this accordingly. Furthermore, the Government will work with the Mainland authority to look at, on the basis of existing law and rules, how we can intensify our effort to deal with these tour groups which force the tourists to buy at designated shops. We will look at the existing structure and see what more we can do.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, October 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:42
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