Chief Executive Delivers 2008-09 Policy Address
Chief Executive Donald Tsang speaks to reporters following the delivery of the 2008-09 Policy Address
Delivering his 2008-09 Policy Address, "Embracing New Challenges," to the Legislative Council, Chief Executive Donald Tsang unveiled a number of measures to address the global financial crisis, protect the public interest and upgrade Hong Kong's quality of life.
Though not immune to the impact of the global financial crisis, Mr. Tsang commented that the crisis had not caused systemic damage to Hong Kong's financial market. He said that the government would seize the opportunity to reinforce the city's position as a global financial center.
The Chief Executive said he would establish and chair a task force to assess the impact of the financial crisis on the economy and propose specific options to address the challenges.
To enhance the resilience of financial institutions, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority would strengthen the supervisory framework for liquidity risk management for authorized institutions and review the methodology for calculating capital adequacy ratios in accordance with the latest guidelines and recommendations of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
To maintain an investment-friendly environment, Mr. Tsang commented that Hong Kong would continue its international role in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. To better coordinate strategies and policies, the government had set up the Central Coordinating Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism. The initial stage of work was to scrutinize the supervisory regimes adopted by individual financial sectors to combat money laundering and terrorist financing with a view to drawing up legislative proposals.
With regard to food safety, the Chief Executive announced that the government had been working on a comprehensive Food Safety Bill for introduction in the current legislative session. The government would give priority to drafting the relevant part of the Food Safety Bill so that the authorities can promptly ban the import and sale – and order the recall of – problem food when necessary.
Mr. Tsang also said the government planned to introduce a bill on a statutory minimum wage during the current legislative session. He said the government would establish a Minimum Wage Commission to study the level of minimum wage, as well as the review mechanism.
In working to upgrade Hong Kong's quality of life, Mr. Tsang said a consensus had been reached with neighboring Guangdong Province to jointly transform the Pearl River Delta Region under the principle of promoting environmental protection and sustainable development.
He said Hong Kong and Guangdong would jointly work to achieve this objective in areas such as post-2010 emissions reductions, optimization of fuel mix for power generation, wider use of renewable energy, vehicle emission reductions, enhanced conservation and greening and scientific research.
The Chief Executive unveiled several measures that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality and encourage recycling. These included, adopting new air quality targets in stages, giving due regard to World Health Organization guidelines; promoting the use of clean fuels such as gas for power generation; and legislating for mandatory compliance with building energy codes.
Mr. Tsang noted that the gradual development of democracy since 1997 had brought about significant changes to Hong Kong's political landscape as people had developed keen political awareness, which had led to higher expectations for effective governance.
To lay a solid foundation for universal suffrage, Mr. Tsang said that in the first half of 2009, the government would consult the public on the methods for electing the Chief Executive and for forming the Legislative Council in 2012 with a view to further democratize the election systems.
The moves would pave the way for the election of the Chief Executive in 2017 and the formation of the Legislative Council in 2020 by universal suffrage.
2008-2009 Policy Address: http://www.policyaddress.gov.hk/
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