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Following is the transcript of the media session by the Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, on the report by the Independent Panel of Inquiry on the Harbour Fest at the ground floor lobby of Central Government Offices (West Wing) this afternoon (May 17):
Financial Secretary: The Chief Executive has issued the statement on the report by the Independent Panel of Inquiry on the Harbour Fest. The government accepts the findings and the recommendations in the report. We will study the report in detail and will actively follow up on its recommendations.
I believe the community still remembers very vividly the dire economic situation we faced immediately after SARS last year. It was under these exceptional circumstances that the Economic Relaunch Working Group (ERWG) supported Harbour Fest. We had a view that we wanted to relaunch our economy and rebuild public confidence as fast and as soon as possible. With hindsight, both the Working Group and the AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) have under-estimated the complexity of organising the Harbour Fest and we have over-estimated its benefits.
As Chairman of ERWG, I agree with the Inquiry Panel's report and the report by the Director of Audit made earlier that there are inadequacies in the preparation of the Harbour Fest. In many respects, we all could have done better. Because of these factors, the Harbour Fest did not attain the results that we set out to achieve. We express our deepest disappointment and our regret. We will certainly learn from these experiences.
Question: What overall responsibility will you assume as Chairman of the Working Group although you were not the Chairman at the very beginning? And secondly the report has openly named Invest Hong Kong has failed in its role as a watchdog, what would happen to Mike Rowse as a civil servant?
Financial Secretary: I have said time and again that as chairman of the ERWG, I have overall responsibility for all the activities of the ERWG. As far as the report is concerned, we will study the details of the report and the Chief Executive's statement has already said if any follow-up action is necessary, both the government and the Civil Service Bureau will take appropriate follow-up action.
Question: When will you tell the public if there is any follow-up action to be taken and will you formally and openly apologise to the public for the chaos brought by Harbour Fest?
Financial Secretary: I have actually answered that question fairly directly a few times already, so I do not wish to repeat that answer.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, May 17, 2004
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