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Following is the transcript (English portion) of a media session by the Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, after he attended the Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA)'s 10th Annual Investor Forum at the Grand Hyatt this (September 22) evening:
Reporter: What is your new target for eradicating the budget deficit?
Financial Secretary: According to the Basic Law, I will strive to balance our budget. The spirit is to strive to balance the budget. I am holding a series of consultation now. I will be holding an economic forum on October 3 in the afternoon. And in October, I am looking forward to making a statement or an address in LegCo, either in the second or in the third sitting to give a mid-year review of my outlook, as well as what my plans are for our budget.
Reporter: This will be on October 3 ?
Financial Secretary: No, it will be either in the second or the third sitting of the LegCo. I have not decided. I will still need to consult with the President.
Reporter: .....do you think it is the best approach in dealing with the unemployment rate? What is your outlook on it?
Financial Secretary: I believe the best way to deal with unemployment is to improve the investment climate, as well as the (investment) environment for Hong Kong. So that the private sector will create more job opportunities. Judging by the number of vacancies available in the Labour Department now, I believe the private sector is responding quite well. I am cautious about saying what Government's role is because I very much believe in the market economy. The best job creator is still the private sector.
Reporter: You have mentioned earlier in the speech inside to a foreign guest that there were a lot of things that you wouldn't say about how you are going to review the taxation system, but can you confirm what aspect that you would like to review in a more concrete way?
Financial Secretary: I am still in a very early stages of my consultation. I have yet to finish the first round of full consultation with all the LegCo members, and business as well as labour organisations. I have yet to consult more, especially on revenue measures, like the taxation. I don't have to actually deal with it yet because I believe I still have time to think about it thoroughly before deciding what to do.
Reporter: As regard to reviewing the target for balancing the budget, do you have a better time frame apart from October that you will be meeting LegCo?
Financial Secretary: I think by the time I go to LegCo, some time in October, I will present, at least, a clearer picture on what my forecast will be. It will, of course, be subject to further discussion and consultation. But at least, I will present a review of what I view as the future.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
End/Monday, September 22, 2003
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