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THURSDAY, MARCH 4. 1993
TRANSCRIPT OF FINANCIAL SECRETARY'S RADIO PHONE-IN PROGRAMME ON RTHK
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KIT
CUMMINGS: WE WELCOME INTO OUR STUDIO NOW HAMISH MACLEOD, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY WHO WILL BE WITH US FOR THE NEXT HOUR. HE WILL BE ANSWERING QUESTIONS FROM LISTENERS BOTH TO ENGLISH SERVICE HERE ON RADIO
PART OF HONG KONG TODAY AND ALSO TO RADIO 1 AND WE'LL BE JOINED NOW BY CHAN YIU-WAH, THE PRESENTER ON RADIO 1 OF THE EQUIVALENT SORT OF PROGRAMME, YOU CAN CALL IN ON THE ENGLISH LINE ON 3388266 TO ASK A QUESTION DIRECTLY TO MR MACLEOD AND I HAND YOU OVER NOW TO CHAN YIU-WAH.
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CHAN: WELL GOOD MORNING I AM CHAN YIU-WAH. FROM 7. 45 ΤΟ 8.45 MR MACLEOD WILL BE TAKING QUESTIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE AUDIENCE. LET ME REMIND YOU OF THE TELEPHONE NUMBER, 1872311.
GOOD
CUMMINGS: WE HAVE A QUESTION NOW FROM AN ENGLISH CALLER. MORNING TO YOU, WOULD YOU LIKE TO PUT YOUR QUESTION TO MR MACLEOD NOW.
QUESTION: GOOD MORNING MR MACLEOD, ROGER THOMAS HERE. I'D LIKE TO DIRECT A BRIEF COMMENT AND A QUESTION DEALING REALLY WITH THE TOURIST AREA. MAY I SAY I VERY MUCH ENDORSE YOUR HELP TOWARDS THE HONG KONG TOURIST ASSOCIATION, NEW BUILDING IN THE CONVENTION CENTRE. I THINK THE REDUCTION IN TAX ON PERFUME WILL BE VERY MUCH WELCOMED BY RETAILERS HERE IN HONG KONG. HOWEVER, I AM VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTED, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY YOU HAVE NOT REMOVED ANYTHING FROM DEPARTURE TAX WHICH DOESN'T JUST HIT TOURISTS WHICH IS THE OLD ARGUMENT, IT DOES HIT A LOT OF OUR REGULAR BUSINESSMEN AND TAGGED IN WITH THAT, ANOTHER POINT ABOUT THE AIRPORT, WHY OH WHY HAVE YOU LEFT THOSE SILLY RESTRICTIONS ON THE ALLOWANCE OF ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES WHICH ORDINARY RESIDENTS CAN BRING BACK INTO HONG KONG?
FS: GOOD MORNING. I DID DEVOTE QUITE A LOT OF THE SPEECH TO TOURISM AS YOU SAY, I VALUE THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY. THE DEPARTURE TAX, 1 DID LOOK AT IT, I FELT THAT LEAVING IT AS IT WAS AND NOT INCREASING IT WAS A SMALL CONTRIBUTION, THE REAL COST OF COURSE WILL GO DOWN. IT ALSO MAY HAVE SOME RELEVANCE TO FUNDING OF THE NEW AIRPORT AND IN CASE IT DOES I'D RATHER JUST LEAVE IT AS IT IS AT THE MOMENT. I THINK THE ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTE RULES ARE BASICALLY ABOUT AVOIDING ABUSE OF THE RULES. YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT WE HAD A LARGE AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO BEING TAKEN TO AND FRO ACROSS THE BORDER BY OLD LADIES, AND THAT WAS PRODUCING QUITE A LARGE LOOPHOLE
IN OUR SYSTEM, THAT'S BASICALLY THE PROBLEM.
QUESTION: ISN'T THAT A SLEDGE HAMMER TO CRACK A NUT THOUGH, BECAUSE AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SCENE, YOU CAN CONTROL IT IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY AND IT DOES SEEM FAIRLY FOOLISH AT OUR AIRPORT?
FS:
YES PERHAPS. I MUST SAY IT WASN'T A POINT PUT TO ME AS I RECALL BY ANYONE, SO I DON'T THINK IT'S A HOT SUBJECT.
/AND FINAL