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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, and the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, today (January 17) met the newly elected chairmen and vice-chairmen of 18 District Councils. This is the first monthly meeting of the third-term District Council chairmen and vice-chairmen.
Mr Tang congratulated the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the 18 District Councils on their elections.
He said, "The Government attaches great importance to district administration which is crucial to enhancing our governance.
"The functions of the new-term District Councils will be greatly enhanced to include the management of designated district facilities. We will hold a summit on district administration in May to explore the development strategy of district administration. We look forward to strengthening the Government's partnership with the District Councils to improve people's livelihood and promote social harmony," he said.
At the meeting, Mr Tang explained to the chairmen and vice-chairmen the decision of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress on Hong Kong's constitutional development. He stressed that the Special Administrative Region Government was firmly committed to taking forward Hong Kong's constitutional development.
"All 18 District Councils actively participated in the consultation exercise of the Green Paper on Constitutional Development and provided valuable comments. We hope that the new-term District Councils will continue to play an active role when the community discusses constitutional development and seeks to forge consensus on the matter," he said.
Mr Tang also briefed the chairmen and vice-chairmen on the progress of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) project and urged the councils to help promote the development of arts and culture at district level.
The chairmen and vice-chairmen generally supported the early implementation of the WKCD project and the upfront endowment approach in financing the project.
The Financial Secretary also joined today's meeting to listen to the views on the upcoming Budget for the Financial Year 2008-2009.
"The Government attaches great importance to the views of the local community," Mr Tsang said, adding that he was looking forward to establishing a close cooperation with the third-term of the District Councils.
Also present at today's monthly meeting were the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor Chan Ka-keung; and the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Pamela Tan.
Ends/Thursday, January 17, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:25
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