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He noted that in August last year, the Government had established a Task Force on Services Promotion. Its objective was to frame initiatives to ensure that the Hong Kong Government offered the policies and programmes necessary to support the territory's continued success as a major global and regional services centre.
This exercise had involved a review of the impact of existing policies and programmes, as well as the identification of new approaches to help the services sector realise its full potential.
At the same time, the Task Force had encouraged the private sector to undertake a number of initiatives to reinforce Hong Kong's long term competitiveness.
Mr Tsang said the document on "The Services Sector Support and Promotion" described the preliminary results of the Task Force's work. The Task Force had produced "Action Agendas" for 14 leading service industries. Each "Action Agenda" recorded the current standards of the industry's performance. It sets out, where appropriate, key comparisons with the industry's principal competitors overseas. It then summarised the Government's existing level of commitment to the industry, as well as the Government's goals and options for future action in support of the industry.
Finally, each "Action Agenda" identified the longer term issues which our community must tackle together.
Mr Tsang said there were two vital points about these "Action Agendas".
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First, they act as a basis for dialogue between the Government and the services sector. They are not the end of our work but the start of a closer relationship between the Government and business. The proposals they contain are intended for public discussion. The Task Force will refine and develop them in response to the reaction from the Legislative Council and the business community in particular.
Second, in updating our support for all sectors of business, the Government remains committed to market mechanisms and to competition. Its economic policies are intended to enable markets to work more efficiently and for Hong Kong businesses to compete more effectively.