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The following is a transcript (English portion) of remarks by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, today (January 12) at a media briefing on the Manpower Development Plan for the Textiles and Clothing Industry:
Reporter: What considerations would the Government have ... for the scheme to grind to a halt?
SEDL: We'd make sure that the scheme serves its purpose and we'd encourage our industrialists to come back and expand their production here in Hong Kong, and to employ more people in Hong Kong. At the same time, the most important thing is to make sure that there will not be any abuse of the scheme. That is most important and that is why Mr Cheung is here. We will do our best to make sure that this would not happen. And that is why we need to review the operation of the scheme from time to time, and that is why it is a pilot scheme. When the number of imported workers reaches 5,000, then there will be an overall review. The review will be about the effectiveness of the scheme. It's to see whether there is any abuse of the scheme, whether it has achieved its objectives and whether we should continue the scheme, we will review all these.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, January 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:47
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