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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (November 28):
Question:
Regarding overseas duty visits conducted by politically appointed officials, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the overseas duty visits conducted by various politically appointed officials since the inauguration of the incumbent Government (including the dates, purposes, destinations, itineraries, numbers and ranks of accompanying staff as well as the amounts of expenditure incurred); and
(b) since some members of the public have relayed to me their concern that as certain politically appointed officials have conducted quite a number of overseas duty visits since their assumption of offices, they may have neglected their work in Hong Kong, whether the Government will comprehensively review the guidelines regarding overseas duty visits by politically appointed officials, so as to ensure that they conduct overseas visits only when necessary; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) Details of the duty visits conducted by Secretaries of Departments (SoDs) and Directors of Bureaux (DoBs) since the inauguration of the incumbent Government (position as at October 31, 2012) are set out at Annex.
(b) Hong Kong is an international city. We have been participating actively in promotion and business activities in the Mainland and overseas, and attending various international conferences and mega events so as to enhance Hong Kong's external liaison and raise Hong Kong's international profile as Asia's World City. The annual visit programme for political appointees is discussed at the Policy Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration (CS) every year, with a view to ensuring that the visits can serve the purposes of showcasing the strengths of Hong Kong, exploring business opportunities (especially in emerging markets), promoting Hong Kong and enhancing liaisons with partners around the world, etc. With the Policy Committee's agreement to the annual programme, the offices of SoDs and DoBs will discuss the details of specific visit programmes with the relevant departments and Economic and Trade Offices based in other cities. To ensure that duty visits are handled prudently, after the visit programmes have been drawn up, SoDs and DoBs will need to apply for approval. CS, the Financial Secretary (FS) and the Secretary for Justice shall submit applications to the Chief Executive for approval, while DoBs shall seek approval from CS or FS.
When planning for duty visits, political appointees will, in the first place, ascertain that there are no foreseeable major local policy issues requiring their attention during the visit period. In addition to arranging acting appointments as appropriate, a sound communication mechanism will be in place during the period of duty visits to ensure that major issues in Hong Kong will be properly handled.
All political appointees will regularly review their visit programmes. The approving officers, when considering applications for duty visits, will ensure that there is a practical need to conduct such visits and that the visits are cost effective, will not compromise local priority issues and are in tune with Hong Kong's overall and long-term interest.
Ends/Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:25
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