Chief Executive Announces New Measures to Tackle Financial Crisis
In January, Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced a series of measures to cope with the expected wave of staff layoffs and company closures after the Lunar New Year, and to assist graduates who will be entering the labor market in the middle of the year.
Speaking after the third meeting of the Task Force on Economic Challenges, the Chief Executive said the Hong Kong government would adhere firmly to the strategy of "stabilizing the financial system, supporting enterprises and preserving employment."
To ease the pressure of the employment market, Mr. Tsang called for full cooperation between the public and private sectors to promote employment. He introduced a number of new measures. Among them:
- The Internship Programme under the Innovation and Technology Fund will be further expanded, providing 600 internship places this year.
- The Employees Retraining Board will provide at least 143,000 training places this year, representing an increase of 20,000 training places over the last financial year.
- Tertiary institutions will strengthen their career services and endeavor to increase places for tutors, research fellows and postgraduate students. The institutions would roll out additional courses, particularly for professionals as well as senior and middle executives to provide them with continuing education opportunities between jobs.
- Over 20 statutory bodies will recruit some 6,000 workers and create about 2,000 temporary jobs or internship opportunities this year.
Aside from preserving employment, another major task of the government is to stimulate the economy.
To promote tourism and retail businesses, the government will organize a series of major and international events this year to enhance Hong Kong's reputation as an events capital.
Among them is Hong Kong's hosting of the 5th East Asian Games (EAG) in December of this year. The event is expected to attract over 10,000 tourists and boost sports development in Hong Kong.
It is estimated that a total of 1,000 jobs had arisen from the EAG construction and upgrading work. An additional 1,000 temporary jobs would be created via various service contracts during the period that 2009 East Asian Games (Hong Kong) Ltd. was preparing for the games.
At the district level, the Lands Department has compiled a list of vacant government sites throughout the territory which may be made available for short-term use by nongovernmental organizations.
If used for community purposes and supported by the District Council and relevant departments, the site will only be charged a nominal rent.
The measures, along with others already introduced, are designed to lessen the impact of the current financial crisis on Hong Kong and its citizens.
Task Force on Economic Challenges: http://www.fso.gov.hk/tfec/eng/index.html
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