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The Council for Sustainable Development launched the Invitation and Response (IR) document "Enhancing Population Potential for a Sustainable Future" today (June 29), which starts off the second engagement process to engage the community in a dialogue exploring the options for a sustainable population policy.
The vice-chairman of the council, Dr Edgar Cheng, remarked at the launch ceremony that "the basic principle of sustainable development was to encourage public participation in mapping out the way forward to improve our quality of life, in order to build up a practical and effective partnership".
"The council will sincerely listen to all feedback and implement the choices that the community makes," Dr Cheng added.
The IR document outlines the key issues pertinent to a sustainable population policy, and invites all members of the community to consider the sustainability implications of a population policy for Hong Kong from the economic, social and environmental perspectives.
The council will organise a series of engagement events in the coming months, to encourage people from all walks of life to respond to this document.
"In this engagement process, we have further enhanced the engagement and involvement of our stakeholders," said Ir Otto Poon, chairman of the council's strategy sub-committee.
The council has invited a number of non-government partner organisations to co-organise some workshops, in order to extend the network of the engagement process and to involve more stakeholders from different sectors.
Professor Wong Siu-lun, convenor of the council's support group on population policy, introduced the IR document and provided an overview of the demographic trends in Hong Kong.
The first regional forum (Hong Kong Island) was also held today after the launch ceremony, at the Hong Kong Central Library. The other two regional forums for Kowloon and New Territories will take place from 10am to 12.30pm on July 22 (Saturday) at the Hong Kong Science Museum; and from 10am to 12.30pm on August 12 (Saturday) at the Sha Tin Town Hall respectively.
In addition, the council will organise another five regional workshops from August to October, to provide a platform for stakeholders to interact and deliberate on the options and way forward for a sustainable population policy. Partner organisations will arrange additional engagement events during this period.
The latest information on these engagement events as well as the roving exhibition that will tour around various public locations will be available on the Sustainable Development Strategy website (www.susdev.org.hk).
Stakeholders may also offer their views by joining the online discussion forum or filling in the online questionnaire on the website, sending back the completed pamphlet for the engagement process, and writing to the council (email: comments@susdev.org.hk; fax: 3150 8168; mail: Council for Sustainable Development Secretariat, Sustainable Development Unit, M/F, Murray Building, Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong).
The full text of the IR document is available on the website. Hard copy is also available at all District Offices.
The council welcomes feedback from the community, which will help shape its recommendations to the Government on the way forward for a sustainable population policy for Hong Kong. The deadline for the submission of views is October 31, 2006.
Ends/Thursday, June 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:48
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