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The following is issued on behalf of the LegCo Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting this Wednesday (July 14) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, members will resume Second Reading debate on the Minimum Wage Bill. If the Bill is supported by members and receives its Second Reading, it will then go through the Committee Stage and be read the Third time.
The Second Reading debates on the Supplementary Appropriation (2009-2010) Bill and the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2010 will also be resumed. If the Bills are supported by members and receive their Second Readings, they will then go through the Committee Stage and be read the Third time.
The Adaptation of Laws (Military References) Bill 2010, the Securities and Futures and Companies Legislation (Structured Products Amendment) Bill 2010, and the Competition Bill will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debates on the bills will be adjourned.
On government motion, the Secretary for Food and Health will move a resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No.3) Regulation 2010 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No.3) Regulation 2010, which were made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 21 June 2010.
On members' motions, Hon Lee Wing-tat will move a resolution under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, which states: "That the Legislative Council Panel on Housing be authorised under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of the Ordinance so as to order the Secretary for Transport and Housing of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to attend before the Panel to produce all the correspondences between the Lands Department and the developer of 39 Conduit Road relating to the Lands Department's enquiry into the property transactions of 39 Conduit Road."
Members will also debate a motion on policy on proactively developing social enterprises. The motion, to be moved by Hon Frederick Fung, states: "That, this Council urges the Government to proactively develop social enterprises, review the various existing support measures, and conduct in-depth consultation with the public and the industry, and at the same time make reference to the relevant overseas experience, so as to map out a development blueprint for social enterprises in the future, formulate support measures on all fronts and offer policy incentives, and provide appropriate arrangements and support in areas such as laws and regulations, financing, management and operation, manpower training, public education and promotion, market opportunity exploration, and procurement of services and products provided by social enterprises, with a view to offering social enterprises extensive and sustainable room for development."
Hon Wong Sing-chi and Dr Hon Pan Pey-chyou will move separate amendments to Hon Frederick Fung's motion.
Hon Miriam Lau will move a motion on comprehensively upgrading the quality of talents in Hong Kong to complement the upgrading and transformation of small and medium enterprises, which states: "That talents have been an important element contributing to the vigorous development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong over the years, but for many years, the Government has not formulated a comprehensive policy on nurturing talents to complement the upgrading and transformation of SMEs which employ a large number of employees, resulting in their development being hindered and hence their employees' income cannot improve substantially; as such, this Council urges the Government to:
(a) formulate a comprehensive policy on talents training to upgrade the quality of talents in Hong Kong in the long run, thereby complementing the upgrading and transformation of SMEs;
(b) consider relaunching and enhancing the 'SME Training Fund', introduce training programmes for the middle-aged, and enhance the relevant talents nurturing programmes such as the 'Continuing Education Fund', etc.;
(c) increase the opportunities for young people to go overseas for further studies and exchanges and to receive on-the-job training;
(d) increase efforts to attract overseas talents, including formulating complementary measures such as increasing the number of places available in international schools to attract overseas talents to stay in Hong Kong, thereby strengthening the exchanges between Hong Kong talents and their counterparts from other places; and
(e) assist SMEs in upgrading their creativity and innovative capabilities, study the establishment of a fund for industrial upgrading and transformation, and formulate a one-stop programme for enterprise incubation, so as to provide support for SMEs intending to upgrade or transform as well as their employees.
Dr Hon Pan Pey-chyou will move an amendment to Hon Miriam Lau's motion.
Members will debate a motion on the adjournment of the Council. The motion, to be moved by Hon Mrs Regina Ip, states: "That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the repeated occurrence of tree-falling incidents, and how to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies."
During the meeting, Hon Vincent Fang, Chairman of the Panel on Commerce and Industry; Hon Lee Cheuk-yan, Chairman of the Panel on Public Service; Hon Cheung Hok-ming, Chairman of Panel on Transport; Dr Hon Samson Tam, Chairman of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting; Hon Jeffrey Lam, Chairman of the Panel on Economic Development; and Dr Hon Joseph Lee, Chairman of Panel on Health Services will present the 2009-2010 Reports of the related Panels and address the Council respectively.
Members will ask the Government 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies. The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the Legislative Council InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or the Legislative Council web site (www.legco.gov.hk).
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the web broadcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, July 12, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:28
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