************************************************************
Hong Kong's ageing population, assisting low income families and nurturing talent were among major issues tackled by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, in his annual Policy Address today (October 12).
Mr Tsang said: "Given our ageing population and persistently low fertility rate, we can foresee that our workforce will shrink in just 10 years' time, which may threaten our sustainable development."
In his policy blueprint entitled "From Strength to Strength", the Chief Executive estimated that Hong Kong's population aged 65 or above would increase from about 900 000 currently to around 2.1 million people by 2030.
"The rapidly ageing population will bring tremendous challenges to our elderly and public healthcare services," Mr Tsang said. "We must get prepared."
He said the Government would provide adequate resources for elderly services and improve the mode of elderly care to ensure appropriate support.
Mr Tsang said the Government would provide more resources to the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme and encourage private homes to upgrade their services under the Scheme so that more elderly people on the waiting list will opt for them.
"We will also buy more places to help relieve the pressure on subvented and contract homes," Mr Tsang said.
For nursing homes, the Chief Executive said sufficient funds had been set aside to increase the number of such places by more than 50% by 2015.
"In addition, as many elderly CSSA (Comprehensive Social Security Assistance) recipients choose to live in non-subsidised homes, I propose to introduce a supplement for CSSA recipients aged 60 or above living in such homes to ease their financial burden," Mr Tsang said.
The supplement would also apply to eligible disabled CSSA recipients of any age.
To promote an active lifestyle for elderly residents, Mr Tsang said the Government would introduce a Public Swimming Pool Monthly Ticket Scheme to encourage the elderly to keep fit by swimming regularly.
Mr Tsang also proposed a $2-a-trip concessionary fare for people aged 65 or above and eligible disabled people to use on franchised buses, ferries and regular MTR lines anytime. The Government will reimburse public transport operators for the revenue forgone due to this initiative.
To support senior citizens who choose to reside in Guangdong, a new "Guangdong Scheme" would be established under the CSSA Scheme to provide Old Age Allowance (OAA) for eligible Hong Kong retirees living in Guangdong.
The Chief Executive also announced a range of initiatives to help nurture local talent and promote social mobility.
Building on the success of the Chinese Cuisine Training Institute, Mr Tsang proposed setting up an International Cuisine College under the Vocational Training Council (VTC) to train aspiring chefs in international cuisines.
"It will attract outstanding members of the culinary profession from around the world, and promote the development of related sectors, such as tourism, catering, retail and wine trading," he said.
Mr Tsang also proposed establishing an additional youth college under the VTC to provide specialised support for non-Chinese speaking students and those with special educational needs.
To promote the research and innovation capabilities of tertiary institutions, Mr Tsang proposed injecting $5 billion into the Research Endowment Fund. Of this, $3 billion would be used to provide research funding for self-financing tertiary institutions on a competitive basis.
For the remaining $2 billion, the investment income of the sum will replace the recurrent provision of $100 million to the Research Grants Council to provide stable research funding for UGC-funded institutions.
The Chief Executive proposed a number of one-off measures to ease the burden of inflation on low-income people. These include:
(i) paying two months' rent for around 700 000 public housing tenants, with an expenditure of about $1.9 billion; and
(ii) providing an extra allowance to CSSA recipients, equal to one month of standard rate, and an extra one-month allowance to OAA and Disability Allowance recipients, with an expenditure of more than $1.9 billion.
Mr Tsang also said the Government would continue to improve its Short-term Food Assistance Service. He said the Government would soon apply to the Legislative Council for approval to use the $100 million already earmarked to continue and improve this service.
"If necessary, the Government will allocate an additional $100 million to the service," Mr Tsang said.
The Government will inject $100 million into the "Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprises" Project to create more job opportunities for the disabled.
"Also, we plan to provide a subsidy from next year onwards for employers of people with disabilities to purchase technical aids and modify work areas to boost the efficiency of such employees," Mr Tsang said.
To enhance family-friendly working practices, Mr Tsang said the Government will take the lead by studying the provision of paid paternity leave for civil servants.
He also said that a Government study on the feasibility of introducing standard working hours would be completed in mid-2012.
Ends/Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:13
NNNN
