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Governor: Let me tell you what happened last year. The work force increased by 100,000, 5,000 of that 100,000 were people coming to Hong Kong through either the General Importation of Labour scheme or through the labour importation scheme for the airport core projects. 5,000 out of 100,000. The problem is much bigger than the importation of labour. I don't deny that the unions have a understandable anxiety about that. We can't manage in Hong Kong without importing some labour with particular skills but we must look at the overall number and there is no case at all for bringing people into Hong Kong when skills are already available and when jobs can be done by Hong Kong people.
Question: (inaudible)
Governor: Well, you should look at my post bag and you'll see. At the last summit that we had, one of the employers in the textile industry gave these specific example of a skilled worker that he wasn't able to find in Hong Kong. I think that everybody. recognises that in those circumstances it's reasonable to allow the importation of labour for jobs' specific purposes. I don't think anybody really think these day that there is a case in those industries where there is large unemployment, for example, the restaurant business. I think in industries like that where you are not always talking about skills, you have to look very carefully at industry-wide quotas which I think are more difficult to justify.
Question: So according to your answer, you don't think that the total scrapping of quota of the importation of labour scheme is impossible?
Governor: These are issues that we are going to discuss tomorrow, But I don't actually hear anybody in Hong Kong saying there should be no importation of labour whatsoever. Have you heard anybody saying that?
Question: The General Chamber of Commerce. The cap. To remove the cap of importation of labour.
Governor: They will be able to discuss these issues with us tomorrow. What I am saying to you once again is if the whole argument in Hong Kong is about the importation of labour scheme we'll be doing ourselves a serious disservice. That is a scheme that's of course matters, of course is relevant. But if we are serious about job creation in Hong Kong, about giving people the employment opportunities they need and deserve, then there are other matters which are a great deal more important like training, like retraining, and like job matching.