China News Service, Hong Kong, November 11 (Reporter Liu Dawei) The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) held its 29th exchange meeting in the front office on November 29, which was the second time in five months. At the meeting, HKSAR Government officials and nearly 12 LegCo Members discussed issues such as attracting enterprises, recruiting talents, importing labour, combating abuse of public housing and banning substandard subdivided units.
The Deputy Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government, Mr Michael Wong, led the Secretary for Housing, Mr Ho Wing-yin, and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Sun Yuk-han, to attend the exchange session. Speaking to the media after the exchange meeting, Mr Wong said that the discussion was conducted in a cordial and frank manner, and that the HKSAR Government would carefully consider the views raised by Members.
Wong said that whether it is "grabbing enterprises" or "grabbing talents", legislators basically agree that plans should be tailored for enterprises, and the SAR government should also be more proactive, rather than passively solving problems when enterprises or talents are found. "We agree very much on these two directions, and this is what the SAR government is doing."
Mr Ho Wing-yin said that the Councillors supported the HKSAR Government's efforts to resolve the subdivided unit problem and put forward their views, including how to coordinate with the supply of public housing. As for the fight against abuse of public rental housing, she pointed out that the HKSAR Government is making use of the latest information technology to identify more relevant cases, reiterating that abuse of public housing resources will not be tolerated and will adopt different ways to deal with them.
On the importation of labour, Mr Sun said that the Supplementary Labour Enhancement Scheme (SLIS) started accepting applications in September and has received about 9,1700 applications so far, involving 1,9 jobs, mainly in the catering, retail and security sectors.
Regarding the "community living room" policy proposed in the new Policy Address, which allows subdivided unit residents to have a place to cook, bathe and do homework, Mr Sun said that the first "community living room" will be opened in Sham Shui Po. In fact, other old districts such as Kowloon City will have a need for "community living room" services, and Members hope that the HKSAR Government will continue to make efforts.
The "Front-of-Office Exchange Meeting" is a new mechanism established by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), John Lee, after taking office, to enhance exchanges between HKSAR government officials and members of the Legislative Council. (ENDS)