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LCQ7: Bureaux and departments encouraged to provide annual reports and other publications on the Internet or in CD-ROMs
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     Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, in the Legislative Council today (November 10):

Question:

     Regarding the annual reports and internal publications published by various government departments, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the current number of government departments which produce annual reports and internal publications;

(b) of the total number of copies of the aforesaid publications printed last year;

(c) of the total expenditure on producing and distributing the publications in (b); and

(d) on the premise of protecting the environment, whether the Government will set a target date and require that various government departments may only provide electronic copies of annual reports and other publications after that date for interested readers to read them through e-mails and on the Internet?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to the four parts of the question is as follows:

(a) Currently, 36 government bureaux/departments publish annual reports and other publications for information of the general public.

(b) & (c) In 2009, a total of about 4.38 million copies of the aforesaid publications have been printed and the total expenditure for their production and distribution was around $8,810,000.

(d) The Government recognises the importance of waste reduction and good management of resources with a view to protecting the environment.  To reduce paper consumption, we have been encouraging bureaux/departments to provide annual reports and other publications on the Internet or in CD-ROMs, instead of hardcopies, as far as possible.  In addition, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer issued guidelines in 2008 to require all bureaux/departments to provide public service online as far as possible as an alternative for the general public.  While the publication of paper annual reports or publications is still necessary at present to meet public demand and bureaux/departments' operational needs, the bureaux/departments concerned will continue to review the need for paper publications and keep them to a minimum as far as possible.

Ends/Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Issued at HKT 11:46

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