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Following is a transcript (English portion) of the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Frederick Ma, speaking to the media at the lobby of the Central Government Offices (West Wing) today (April 7):
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: The HKSAR government is obviously very concerned about the supply of rice and the rising price. We have been in touch with the Thai Government, we have been in touch with the Ministry of Commerce of the Mainland, as well as the supermarkets and rice suppliers in this regard. We have been assured by the Thai authorities via its Consulate General in Hong Kong that its supply is normal and stable. They will take every measure to ensure that export to Hong Kong will not be disrupted, and that they do not have any plan to impose any export quota. And as you can appreciate, 90% of the rice being consumed in Hong Kong is from Thailand. We obviously have to be very concerned about the situation in Thailand.
We have also been in touch with the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce has assured us that if there is any shortage in our rice supply, it will well be covered by the supply from the Mainland as Premier Wen pledged a week ago.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Monday, April 7, 2008
Issued at HKT 21:16
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