Youth Exchange Session discusses population policy and youth development (with photo)
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The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Youth:

     The Commission on Youth (CoY) organised a Youth Exchange Session at the Youth Square today (January 20). The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, attended the session and exchanged views with youths on the topic of "Population Policy and Youth Development".

     Mrs Lam said that population policy is highly relevant to young people's present and future. The consultation document on population policy highlights the importance of enhancing the quality of home-grown talent and providing young people with paths for upward mobility. There is a lot of coverage about nurturing young people in the recently released Policy Address and many of the new initiatives are consistent with the policy directions proposed in the consultation document, for example, improving post-secondary education, inspiring young people's interest in vocational education, promoting continuing learning and supporting the learning of Chinese language by ethnic minorities.

     Youth policy has always been one of the Government's emphases.  The Government hopes to nurture the young people as future leaders that are creative, visionary, with commitment and leadership.  The Home Affairs Bureau and CoY have jointly adopted a set of objectives as the policy basis, namely to foster the culture of multi-faceted excellence, and to promote multiple pathways and equal opportunities for youth.  The Government will continue to work with CoY and other community stakeholders in enhancing youth development work.

     In her concluding remarks, Mrs Lam said she was glad to see the proactive engagement of many young people in the forum.  The valuable views they shared would surely serve as useful references for the Government in formulating population and youth policies. She believed that with the young people's enthusiasm, they can certainly contribute to the further development of society.

     The Chairman of the CoY, Mr Bunny Chan, said the CoY will continue to organise exchange sessions and invite representatives from the government or advisory bodies to attend so that the youths will have more opportunities to exchange views with them on topics of concern.

Ends/Monday, January 20, 2014
Issued at HKT 20:13

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