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Following is the transcript of a media session by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, after attending a public function today (November 8) (English portion):
Reporter: What is being done by the responsible parties on zero-fare packages?
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour: To tackle the zero-fare issue, we need the cooperation of all parties concerned, including the Travel Industry Council, tour guides, travel agents, the Consumer Council, the China National Tourism Authority and the Hong Kong Tourism Board. We need to work together. Over the past two weeks, we have been meeting with all these parties and we will continue to do so. We are considering many issues, such as strengthening the regulatory framework of the Tourism Industry Council and, for example, whether we need more people not in the travel trade to join the Tourism Industry Council's disciplinary committee. We are not targeting tour guides or travel agents. I think all of them are responsible. We need to talk to all of them and we need to have better communication. We will do a lot of things. I think we will announce these later this month.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)
Ends/Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:40
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