Transcript of remarks at press conference on Principal Official appointments (2) (with video)

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Chief Secretary for Administration (designate): I feel hugely honoured to have been nominated by the Chief Executive-elect, Mrs Carrie Lam, and approved by the Central People’s Government as the Chief Secretary for Administration in the fifth term of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. This is, indeed, the most challenging and important mission in my 45 years of public service.

     I have been working very closely with the Chief Executive-elect for many years. We share the same philosophy on major livelihood issues in relation to population policy, poverty alleviation, elderly care and support for the disadvantaged. As the Chief Secretary for Administration of the new-term Government, I am determined to exert myself in implementing “One Country, Two Systems”, “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” and a high degree of autonomy strictly in accordance with the Basic Law in the next five years. I will also do my utmost to assist the Chief Executive-elect in delivering her manifesto by improving people’s livelihood, alleviating hardship and fostering upward social mobility in a more innovative, interactive and collaborative manner, with a view to developing Hong Kong into a harmonious, caring, inclusive and liveable Asia’s World City.

     I fully understand the community's expectations for the new-term Government. I pledge to do my very best to safeguard the core values of Hong Kong, adopt a proactive approach to improve the relationship between the executive authorities and the Legislative Council, strengthen the co-ordination of cross-bureau and cross-departmental policies, enhance efficiency in governance, and lead our civil servants in serving the whole community. I will also continue to explore further room for development for Hong Kong, seize new opportunities, foster exchanges and co-operation with the Mainland, and forge closer international connections. These include facilitating the development of the Belt and Road initiative, deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong co-operation and promoting the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, with a view to enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the long term.

     As the Chief Secretary for Administration, I will take the initiative to care and listen more, and act more proactively to respond to the aspirations and needs of the community. I will fully support the Chief Executive-elect in implementing four key priorities in her manifesto, and that is improving people’s livelihood, boosting civil service morale, promoting manpower development and fostering youth development.

     I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the current Chief Executive, Mr Leung Chun-ying, for his support and trust in the past five years. My thanks also go to the team of Politically Appointed Officials and my civil service colleagues for their support and encouragement.

     I much look forward to joining hands with the new political team and the entire civil service to serve the people of Hong Kong and propel Hong Kong forward in the next five years.

     Thank you.

Financial Secretary (designate): Fellow Hong Kong citizens, friends of the media, I am deeply honoured to be nominated by the Chief Executive-elect, Mrs Carrie Lam, and appointed by the Central People's Government as Financial Secretary. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Hong Kong.

     I fully understand the huge responsibility of the Financial Secretary. In the coming five years, I shall do my utmost to achieve three major targets. The first is to proactively develop the economy and improve people's livelihood. I shall endeavour to maintain the financial stability of Hong Kong, enhance our business environment, and nurture the development of a more diversified economy. We will be actively promoting the further development of our pillar industries, facilitating the development of the innovation and technology sector and other new industries that we have competitive advantages. In this way, people from different segments of the society will be able to share the benefits of economic growth, and there will also be more quality jobs for our young generation.

     Second, we will continue to invest in our future and make Hong Kong an even more liveable, convenient, efficient and competitive city. We will continue to invest in infrastructure. Increasing land supply will continue to be one of our key focus. We hope the community can support our work in this regard.

     Third, I will strive to preserve our healthy public finance, and make good use of our resources in a timely manner to support various initiatives to cater for the needs of the community. I will strive to build a just, caring and inclusive society.

     Ladies and gentlemen, what Hong Kong has achieved in the past few decades is nothing short of an economic miracle. While we had our ups and downs, each and every time we rose up to the challenges and came out even more vibrant and competitive, thanks to the unique advantage of "one country, two systems" and the resilience and flexibility of Hong Kong people. We should continue to believe in, and be confident of ourselves. Going forward, we must remain vigilant about the latest global and regional developments, and be forward-looking and innovative. We must seize the opportunities ahead of us to drive a more diversified economy, creating more quality jobs for the benefit our people. Thank you.

Secretary for Justice (designate): Ladies and gentlemen, I am very honoured to have the opportunity to continue to serve Hong Kong as the Secretary for Justice. I thank Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive-Elect, for nominating me, and also thank the Central People’s Government for appointing me as the Secretary for Justice.

     I believe no one here will doubt the importance of the rule of law. The single most important role of the Secretary for Justice is to maintain the rule of law. This will continue to be my top priority as well as the top priority of the Department of Justice. One of the key concepts of the rule of law is that no one, including the Government, is above the law. One of my roles is therefore to provide advice to the Government so as to ensure that Government policy and executive acts are within the legal limit of the Government’s power. I will therefore, as I have said before, have no hesitation to give independent advice to the Government and my colleagues from a legal and professional angle, bearing in mind my role as the guardian of public interest.

     Another key aspect of my work will be in respect of Hong Kong’s status as an international legal and dispute resolution centre in the Asia-Pacific region. In the past five years or so, we have been working closely with relevant stakeholders to consolidate Hong Kong’s competitiveness in this regard. Although we are facing considerable competition in the region, I will continue to take steps to further consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an international legal and dispute resolution centre, whether generally or in the specific context of the Belt and Road Initiative or the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area context.

     Thank you very much.

(to be continued)

Ends/Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Issued at HKT 20:01

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