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Following is the transcript of a media session by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, after attending a public function today (September 19) (English portion):
Reporter: Concerning "Ngong Ping 360", will you attend the opening ceremony?
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour: I hope that there will be a grand opening ceremony and, if invited, I will certainly attend. The most important [thing] is to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the cable-car system. It has been in operation for only two days, and of course we wish them smooth operation. Certainly it will be a big tourist attraction.
Reporter: How about the Golden Week?
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour: They certainly have to make arrangements for the Golden Week, including ticketing arrangements and traffic and crowd control. They are in touch with the Tourism Commission and also other relevant departments.
Reporter: Despite the opening of so many new attractions, the Tourism Board expected the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong this year to be lower than expected. What do you think about that?
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour: I understand that the Tourism Board is doing their best to attract tourists to Hong Kong. There has been a healthy increase in the number of tourists coming to Hong Kong. We still have a few months. I am sure that the Tourism Board will continue to do their best.
Reporter: Are you happy with the latest employment figures?
Secretary for Economic Development and Labour: Yes. The latest unemployment rate is 4.8%, that is better than the last three months and I'm glad to say that the number of employed people has reached a record high. We'll continue to do our best. And I'm glad to say that on average we received about 2,100 new jobs every day. In the month of August, we received a total of nearly 50,000 new jobs. That is a very good figure. Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)
Ends/Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:47
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