118 Commerce and Industry
Clothing Industry Training Authority runs two training centres for the clothing and footwear industries.
The Government oversees the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talent and Professionals. The scheme aims to attract talented people and professionals from the Mainland to work in Hong Kong to meet manpower needs and enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in the world market.
Consumer Protection
Consumer Council
The Consumer Council is a statutory body established in 1974 to protect and promote the interests of consumers of goods and services and purchasers, mortgagors and lessees of immovable property. The council comprises 22 members appointed by the Government from a wide spectrum of the community.
The council's key activities include testing and survey programmes, price surveillance, complaint and advice services, consumer policy studies, consumer education and dissemination of consumer information. It also administers the Consumer Legal Action Fund, which enhances consumer access to legal remedies.
The council's testing and survey programmes seek to provide consumers with objective and up-to-date information so that they can make informed choices. During the year, 48 product tests, 16 survey projects and 40 in-depth studies were completed. The council publishes the findings of its product tests and surveys together with practical advice to the public through its monthly magazine, CHOICE, which offers broad, multi-media access available in print and on the internet as well as through residential fixed-line and mobile phones.
The council provides complaint and advisory services to the community through telephone hotlines, eight Consumer Advice Centres and its website. It acts as a mediator between consumers and the traders concerned. During the year, 34 114 consumer complaints and 119 720 consumer enquiries were received.
The council also monitors trade practices and competition-related issues that may have implications for consumer welfare and makes submissions to relevant parties on its views.
In 2009, the council organised the Consumer Rights Reporting Awards for the media and the public vote on the Top Ten Consumer News for the Year. It organised the tenth Consumer Culture Study Award jointly with the Education Bureau, to encourage secondary school students to conduct their own studies of local consumer culture.
The council maintains regular contact with overseas and Mainland counterparts, handles consumer complaints from tourists and considers initiatives to pursue wider consumer interests. The council signed Memorandums of Understanding for Co-operation with major Mainland cities and provinces to strengthen consumer protection for Mainland tourists. The council maintains an informative website