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Reporter: First of all is the timing of this. Given what is happening with the global economy, one would not think this was a time to embark... Second question is the choice of chairman. Mr Zeman of course does a great deal about entertainment, but none of these other gentlemen you have named ¡V you have got executive councillors, legislative councillors, former legislative councillors, government minister -- none of you, with respective experiences in museum, curators or cultural experts. Why not people who really know that field heading committees?
Chairman of the Board: First of all, there is a lot of financial volatility around us, and many are not optimistic that the economy will pick up any time soon. However, by the time this project is finished in 2014, 2015, let¡¦s say 2015, if the financial tsunami is still with us by 2014/15, I think we have a lot more to worry about than just Hong Kong. This is an opportunity for Hong Kong to put ourselves on the map of arts and culture. This is an opportunity for more jobs in the arts and culture field, not just performing arts but management, planning, education, and so on and so forth. So I think this is the right time for this project, and I believe I am very fortunate that our timing is such that when the projects come on stream, they will create construction jobs as well.
Reporter: Why are the chairmen are mostly political people instead of people from these fields?
Chairman of the Board: The chairmen that we have chosen are actually not political people; they are experts in their respective fields. For example, Allan (Zeman) knows a lot about entertainment, and therefore he is heading the performing arts committee. Ron (Arculli) knows a lot about development, as he has a long history of dealing with people who are in the business, but on the other hand he is not a developer himself, so he is best suited to head the development committee. Victor (Lo) is a very renowned collector, known to many, many people, true collectors around, and he heads the design centre as well as other design efforts, so he is best suited for that committee. And I can go on, but I won¡¦t. I believe we have chosen the right persons for it and the board have supported their chairmanship, and I think they are best suited for it.
Reporter: Have you set out any timetable or milestone...?
Chairman of the Board: We have undertaken that phase one will be completed by 2014-15, we are working on that timetable.
Reporters: Can you tell us how that search will be conducted?
Chairman of the Board: It will be an open recruitment.
Reporter: Could you please talk about the appointment...?
Chairman of the Board: The Remuneration Committee will go through all the details and discuss it thoroughly before we come up with it.
Reporter: What kind of person are you looking for?
Chairman of the Board: We are going to look for a top-notch person and we are going to look world-wide, an open recruitment.
Reporter: The choice of chief executive will be a very important choice. Are you looking for someone who is from the field of arts and culture, from the field of development, where are you looking for someone coming with the vision?
Chairman of the Board: The terms of reference, qualifications, will be thoroughly discussed at the Remuneration Committee, and he will be openly recruited.
Reporter: So you have no idea what kind of official you are looking for, is that it?
Chairman of the Board: I have said that already, we are looking for a top person who is capable of leading the authority in the whole structure, as well as leading the authority into the future, and answerable to the board. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 20:25
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