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The Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, made the following statement in response to the Public Accounts Committee Report No. 42, which was tabled at the Legislative Council today (June 23):

I and other members of the Economic Relaunch Working Group (ERWG) note the conclusions and recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). We are studying them in detail and will take necessary follow-up actions.

As I have said previously, it was under the exceptional circumstances in connection with the economic crisis brought on by SARS that the ERWG decided to support the Harbour Fest proposal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham). The intention was to relaunch our economy and rebuild public confidence as quickly as possible.

The Chief Executive had commissioned an Independent Panel of Inquiry to review the planning and organisation of the Harbour Fest and the report of the panel was released on May 17. The Chief Executive has accepted the panel's findings and recommendations and agreed that all of the parties involved in the various phases of the project are responsible in their respective ways. He has also asked the Secretary for the Civil Service to consider whether any action needs to be taken in respect of any officer and the Civil Service Bureau have since taken active steps to follow up.

With the benefit of hindsight, we realise that both the ERWG and the AmCham have under-estimated the complexity of organising the Harbour Fest event within such a tight timeframe and have over-estimated its benefits. The Harbour Fest was a good initiative of the AmCham and of the Government, but it did not attain the results we set out to achieve. As chairman of the ERWG, I agree that we all could have done better in many respects. For this, we express once again our deepest disappointment and regret. We will certainly learn from these experiences.

The Administration is following up on the various outstanding tasks relating to the Harbour Fest, including further clarifying with AmCham the accounts; settling the transfer and assignment of all intellectual property rights in relation to Harbour Fest from AmCham to the Government; exploring further opportunities to broadcast the Harbour Fest television special and maximising the use of video clips for promotion of Hong Kong; and improving financial circulars to better delineate the responsibilities of Controlling Officers.

Ends/Wednesday, June 23, 2004

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