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Following is the speech (English only) delivered by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the 2000 Conference of the Eastern Regional Organisation for Public Administration (EROPA) today (October 4):
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am extremely delighted to be here this morning to officiate at the Opening Ceremony of the Year 2000 Conference of the Eastern Regional Organisation for Public Administration (EROPA). Hong Kong is very privileged to be the host, for the first time, of this very important annual regional event. I extend my personal welcome to all of you, particularly to our overseas participants.
Public administration is something we take very seriously in Hong Kong. How serious? I remember during a major conference for the civil service this January, one of our international speakers commented that perhaps only in Hong Kong would we have a conference on public sector reform to mark the very first week of the new Millennium. But seeing such a distinguished gathering of public administration experts from 30 countries today, I believe that all of you take public administration every bit as seriously as we do.
Challenges
We live in a challenging world where the task of today's civil servant is one of growing complexity - we certainly, to borrow from the old curse, "live in 'interesting times' ". Globalisation is breaking down many barriers to change and increasing the demand by all citizens that their country, their government, should be best of class. Technology is having a fundamental impact on the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Change, both in technology and more broadly in our societies and economies, is moving at an unprecedented pace.
We have to face up to the challenges that this entails. Doing nothing in today's world carries as much, if not more, risk than embracing change. We can no longer sustain the civil service tradition of risk avoidance. Yet driving forward public sector reform is no easy task. Experienced public administrators as you are, the following paradox certainly would not be new to you :
"When times are good people don't see the need for reform, when times are bad they often won't support reform."
So, there is never a perfect time for reforms. What we need is simply a positive attitude to change. Many organisations are grasping the new opportunities of the 21st century and it is incumbent on all of us to do likewise. I would like this morning to highlight just three of the opportunities that are open to us:
Opportunities
* First, we can learn from each other. Innovators and fast followers both have their place in the scheme of things. We can build upon and adapt the work of others. For example, we studied and drew heavily on the model of strategic result areas developed in New Zealand to develop our own policy objective approach. And we have been proud to see the UK reporting our approach as an example of best practice in securing what they term as 'joined up government'.
*Secondly, we can exploit technology to improve service delivery. People increasingly expect to be able to apply for licences, submit tax returns, pay parking fines, and even just talk to their government on-line. There are many exciting developments being taken forward by governments in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Singapore and elsewhere. In Hong Kong, we will soon be launching our own Electronic Service Delivery infrastructure. In these new endeavours we all have much to learn from one another.
*Thirdly, we can make use of new institutional structures and of public-private partnership. Most governments are the repositories of vast quantities of potentially valuable information. To unlock this value may require investment and expertise beyond the means of government, or involve commercial risks that traditional government structures are ill-equipped to manage. However, new forms of institution working in partnership with the private sector have shown themselves capable of exploiting such opportunities to the full.
Conference themes
The need for public sector reform is always with us. This conference provides an ideal opportunity for us to take stock, reinvigorate our efforts and find the right way forward. I would now like to turn to the conference programme. First, I would like to congratulate the EROPA Secretariat, the Hong Kong Public Administration Association and the Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, on putting together an excellent programme. It is structured around three broad issues:
* The first issue is meeting citizens' expectations. We must increase consultation with the people we serve. We need to know and fully understand their needs, and develop targets and performance measures for assessing how well we are satisfying those needs. Perhaps most important of all, we must ensure that all of our citizens feel themselves to be involved participants in the community's success. And that they all reap the benefits of the technological progress, which I referred to earlier. Here in Hong Kong, these aims continue to be a major focus of our policies and are reflected in our public sector reform programme "Serving the Community".
* The second issue is accountability and institutional arrangements. Institutions cannot be held accountable for their performance unless managers know the real costs of their operations and are given sufficient autonomy to pursue agreed objectives. Without these, they will be unable to maximise the use of resources or respond flexibly to changes in growth and demand. Some flexibility may be granted simply by changing some of the rules, but often that will not be enough. And it will rarely yield the added benefits that freedom from public spending controls has been seen to provide. Examples, such as the Dutch Post Office's acquisition of TNT to become a major world player in international parcel delivery, show the radical improvement in service and performance that can be achieved through applying new corporate models. Our own experience in setting up trading funds and establishing public corporations in place of departments has borne this out, showing what public servants are ready to achieve when freed from the shackles of excessive bureaucracy.
*This leads to the third conference issue of service and management culture. We must recognise that change often bears most directly on our front line staff and their managers - the people we look to for achieving the desired improvements in customer service. They are understandably concerned about the effects that new technology and new forms of institutional arrangements may have on their jobs and careers. Many staff and their managers will have to find new ways of working. Filing clerks may have the opportunity to become skilled call centre agents and routine maintenance workers to become members of rapid response teams. We must therefore ensure that we have robust and supportive processes for reengineering, retraining and redeployment of human resources. Inevitably, new jobs will lead to changes in the ways in which our performance as teams and as individuals is appraised and rewarded. Properly managed, such changes can be used to build common purpose and staff morale. But experience shows that proper staff consultation and communication is vital. This is another area where we have much to learn from each other.
Conclusion
Clearly, we are faced with an exciting and challenging future, and we must continue to share our experience as practitioners, helping each other with the problems we all face. For some time I have been a proponent of such collaboration and I see events such as this conference as making a crucial contribution. As well as sharing information, they provide an opportunity to put aside day to day concerns and address the bigger picture.
I would, if I may be so bold, like to add a personal challenge to each of you. We all know that the hardest thing is not so much developing new ideas as it is implementing them. This is particularly so in government. Many of you may recall the UK television comedy - "Yes Prime Minister". In one episode, the cabinet secretary is heard to explain that in the UK government:
"Lots of people have the power to stop things happening - but almost nobody has the power to make them happen. Governments are said to have the engine of a lawn mower controlled by the brakes of a Rolls Royce."
As ever, comedy works by exaggeration. But the real point is that it requires significant and sustained effort to make things happen. We also need to be bold. As one of our local commentators recently remarked:
"Even the tortoise has to stick his neck out to make progress".
My challenge to you, therefore, is to find at least one excellent idea that you can take back, tailor to your own environment, and implement. I certainly expect that of the Hong Kong participants, and I look forward to hearing from them of the success of the conference.
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome our guests to Hong Kong and wish you all a rewarding, stimulating and enjoyable time.
Thank you very much.
End/Wednesday, October 4, 2000
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Photo : The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, addressing the Eastern Regional Organisation for Public Administration (EROPA) Hong Kong Conference 2000 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Conference is jointly organised by the Efficiency Unit of the HKSAR Government, the EROPA, and the Hong Kong Public Administration Association.
Speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration Broadband / 56K