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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, and the Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (designate), Mr Godfrey Leung, to the media today (September 25):
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I would like to say a few words in English. I'm very glad to introduce Mr Godfrey Leung today. The Appointment Committee has appointed Mr Leung to be the Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. Mr Leung has many years, some over 20 years of experience in serving the public, most notably in the (Hong Kong) Trade Development Council. He has served there for 15 years. He's been posted in overseas office in New York as well as in the Mainland office in Shenzhen. He also served in the Construction Industry Council. He has many years of serving the public. I look forward to working with Mr Leung and am confident that he will assist me in policy formulation and implementation. I would like to give the following time to Mr Leung to introduce himself. And thereafter we will answer your questions. Thank you.
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (designate): I would like to say a few words in English. I wish to thank Mr So for the introduction. I'm very grateful to have been offered the opportunity to serve the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB). My tenure of Under Secretary will begin from mid-October.
I hope I shall be able to contribute to the process of formulating, promoting and implementing the Bureau's policies, under the leadership of the Secretary and support from the CEDB team.
I have been working with the trade, manufacturing and service sectors, especially the SMEs (small and medium enterprises), for almost two decades. I wish to seek to understand the concern of business sectors and their needs. I hope my experience will contribute to CEDB's work.
Looking forward, my top priority is to get familiarised with CEDB's work in the months to come. I shall maintain close contact with all stakeholders under the leadership of the Secretary and listen to their views to assist the Secretary in his policy making process. Thank you very much.
Reporter: Mr Leung, why are you joining the Government at this time when a lot of other politically appointed officials are leaving the Government? What exactly do you hope to do? What exactly do you think you can do to help Hong Kong?
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (designate): My past experience, as I said, in serving the business community, the manufacturing industry, the service industry and the trade, I think, will help the Bureau in formulating its work. And under the Secretary's directions, we can work closely with the business sector to promote Hong Kong and to have a better economic development in Hong Kong.
Reporter: There were some reports saying that it was hard for you to find an assistant because you couldn't, what I call, accept people who may be better than you and so on. Is that part of the reason for Mr Leung's late appointment?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I don't know where you read those reports. The policy that we have is always to hire the best people and I can honestly say that today Mr Leung has been chosen for the Under Secretary post. I look forward to working with Mr Leung and actually I would just encourage people to join the Government, people who are good, who are the best in industry, bringing the best skill set to come in to join the Government. I don't think there is any inhibition on the part of the Government to hire good people.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:15
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