Following is a transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive-elect, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session this morning (March 30) after visiting her alma mater St Francis' Canossian College:

Reporter: In terms of forming your cabinet, what is your progress right now? And have you invited any current officials to stay in the next Government?

Chief Executive-elect: I have just started the process to identify, to discuss and hopefully to invite suitable candidates to join the team of politically appointed officials. I think this process will take a bit of time, because there are many positions to be filled. We have three Secretaries and 13 Directors of Bureaux, so the process has just begun. In terms of criteria, I've said in public that regardless of their political affiliations, as long as that individual has the ability and is willing to serve, and his philosophy is aligned with mine, then I would be more than happy to invite him or her to join the politically appointed team. So I hope to be able to complete this process within reasonable time, because there are still a lot of things to do, especially I have said that I want to make some preparatory work for the next term of the Hong Kong SAR Government, particularly in education, so the earlier that I could complete this process, the better. But of course I have to point out that I am only nominating these individuals to serve in the next term of the Hong Kong SAR Government. The ultimate decision and appointment is by the Central People's Government. Thank you very much.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, March 30, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:48

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