The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, this afternoon (March 20) visited Wong Tai Sin District, where he went to a wet market, called at a youth centre and met with members of the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC) to learn more about the latest developments and needs of the district. 

     Accompanied by the Chairman of the WTSDC, Mr Li Tak-hong, and the District Officer (Wong Tai Sin), Ms Annie Kong, Mr Chan first visited Tai Shing Street Market. Mr Chan exchanged views with representatives of the Committee of Stall Keepers at Tai Shing Street Market and visited the stalls inside the market to understand their operating environment.

     Mr Chan said that last year the Government earmarked $2 billion for implementing a Market Modernisation Programme. In the 2019-20 Budget, he will allocate $600 million to refurbish 240 public toilets in phases to further improve municipal facilities.

     He then visited Choi Wan Rhenish Integrated Children and Youth Services Centre of the Chinese Rhenish Church Hong Kong Synod to chat with children, young people and parents to learn more about their learning and living conditions. The Centre provides a variety of comprehensive youth services to promote their holistic development.

     When chatting with the young people, Mr Chan said that the Government is committed to fostering the development innovation and technology (I&T), so as to diversify the economy and provide more opportunities for young people. He encouraged the promotion of popular science education in schools for paving the way for nurturing local technology talents.

     He pointed out that $500 million has been earmarked in the 2019-20 Budget to implement the IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools Programme in the coming three school years and each secondary school benefiting will be granted $1 million. This will enable students to deepen their I&T knowledge through more relevant extra-curricular activities on top of the traditional classroom learning.

     Before concluding the visit, Mr Chan met with members of the WTSDC to exchange views on various livelihood and development issues of the district.

Ends/Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Issued at HKT 19:36

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