SCED speaks to the media on Trade and Industry Advisory Board
*************************************************************
Reporter: You mentioned that the membership of this new board would better represent the voices of the industry. One of the new members, Kenneth Leung, is actually the only pan-democrat in the board. Do you think he will bring in a more diverse, kind of a refreshed voice to the board? How would such a revamp help with the Government initiative? About the observation wheel, is the Government going to interfere? Do you think the incident has already hurt Hong Kong's reputation?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I think I have answered the second question repeatedly this morning and also here. I won't repeat that.
As regards the composition, I think the Government's intention to widen the scope and the membership of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board is for the purpose of capturing as much, and as wide as possible, opinions and advice from various sectors. Essentially we are hoping that this board, under the reconstituted membership, could draw in more expertise from chambers like what Eddy Li has been representing, and also from a lot of professional services which Hong Kong is good at. Because these inputs are most important for equipping ourselves, on the one hand seeking the best policy that could apply to Hong Kong in furthering our initiative under the Belt and Road and, at the same time, through their networks, conveying the Government's message and the opportunity to outside. So political affiliation has in fact never been a consideration in widening the membership. I should capture as wide as possible a membership that could represent the various sectors of the community.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, September 4, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:18
Issued at HKT 19:18
NNNN