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Following is the transcript (English part) of a stand-up session by the Financial Secretary, Mr Antony Leung, after a meeting of the Task Force on Employment at the West Wing lobby of Central Government Offices today (November 29):

Reporter: Are these jobs enough to turn around the unemployment situation at the moment? Is there more scope, more room for expanding this?

Financial Secretary: Clearly we hope that it will alleviate the situation. It may not be able to turn around as you said. Whether the unemployment situation will turn around really depends on the external situation and on how Hong Kong can successfully restructure itself. But we believe that these short-term job opportunities can really alleviate the situation and thereby reduce unemployment.

(Please also refer to the Chinese transcript)

End/Thursday, November 29, 2001

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