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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, to the media after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, today (October 5):
Reporter: Can you tell us more about your meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines? And how did he reply to the request?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: Yes. I just had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines government. In this meeting, I reiterated the four requests made by the families of the victims in Hong Kong. I also told him that this is something that the people of Hong Kong care about quite dearly. And so I repeated the four requests to the Philippines government. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines government also responded to my request and stated his government's position on these points. However, on my urging the Philippines government to respond seriously to this request that's being made, I also indicated to him that since (during) the last APEC meeting, the bilateral meeting between the Financial Secretary, Mr John Tsang, and the Minister himself, there had not been a lot of action taken with the Consul-General in Hong Kong meeting with the families of the victims, despite the fact that my colleagues had called upon the Philippines government 23 times to make this contact with the families. So on my urging, the Philippines' Minister had indicated that he would try his best to contact his colleagues to arrange for this one-time meeting between the families of the victims and the Consul-General.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, October 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:57
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