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Reply:
Mr President,
Apart from the Chairman of the MTRC, who is appointed by the Governor under Section 4 of the MTRC Ordinance, all other appointments are a matter for the Corporation itself to determine. In this respect, the Corporation now has a clear-cut policy of appointing suitably-qualified local candidates for vacancies which may arise. The Corporation will only resort to overseas recruitment when local candidates are not available. Indeed, in keeping with the principle of this policy, the MTRC has, since December 1993 offered totally equal terms to new employees, regardless of whether they are recruited locally or from overseas.
As regards progress in localising its top management the most significant step taken is that, as Honourable Members know, in April this year a local candidate was recruited and appointed to fill the position of the Chairman of the Corporation. Apart from the Chairman, it is a fact that at present only one of the seven Executive Directors, is a local appointee.
It should be noted that all the Executive Directors and by far the majority of the employees in managerial and professional posts have been engaged on permanent terms of service. Under the Corporation's localisation policy, expatriates who leave the service on retirement or for other reasons will be replaced as far as possible by locals who have the necessary qualifications and experience. In this respect, one of the expatriate Directors will be retiring in the middle of next year, and the Corporation's firm intention is to appoint a local replacement.
End/Wednesday, July 12, 1995