Following is the transcript of the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph W P Wong, speaking to the media today (March 28) on the report submitted by the Committee on Review of Public Service Broadcasting (English portion):

SCIT: First of all, on behalf of the Chief Executive, I would like to thank the Chairman Raymond Wong and all the members of the review committee for producing this very comprehensive report, which is the product of one year's hard work, which includes drawing reference from practices outside Hong Kong and also involves very active engagement by different sectors of the community. The Government needs time to study the report. As I have said before, it is our intention that after we have carefully studied the report, we will issue a consultation paper, probably in the second half of this year, which will set out the Government's views on the way forward. The consultation paper will provide an opportunity for all the stakeholders and every member of the community to express their views on this very important subject, and the Government will only take a decision after this full and comprehensive consultation.

     I just want to make two final very important points. The first point is for the sake of transparency, and to ensure that every member of the community can have access to the full report, we have uploaded the full report to our website and I would ask anyone who wishes to comment on the report to first read this very comprehensive report. The second point is, we all value and treasure press freedom and freedom of speech. This freedom is enshrined in and protected by the Basic Law. It is, of course, the responsibility of the HKSAR Government to implement the Basic Law. Indeed, through our review, and in the course of our subsequent consultation, and in taking any decision on the way forward, I can assure members of the public, that this Government will not do anything which will affect press freedom and freedom of speech which as I said are something this Government and every member of the community value and treasure.

Reporter: What about the future of RTHK? Is there a possibility to scrap the organisation in order to set up the new company?

SCIT: I do not think it is appropriate at this point of time to draw any conclusion on what the Government will propose in the consultation paper. As I said, it is the first day we receive the report. We will need time to look at it and it is also a very important matter for the whole of the community. So please do not jump into any conclusion. In so far as RTHK as a Government department is concerned, of course, at the moment it operates under certain framework and financial arrangements. At this stage, it will of course continue to operate in such a way.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)

Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:25

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