XN000022-1991-01-10 — Page 5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1991

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"OUR IMMIGRATION RULES ARE ALREADY SIMPLE. WE DO NOT IMPOSE

MANAGERS AND IN THE LAST THREE YEARS 18,000 PROFESSIONALS AND HAVE TAKEN UP EMPLOYMENT IN HONG KONG UNDER THIS POLICY.

QUOTA,

"WE WILL REMAIN FLEXIBLE AND THE EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING RULES TO ALLOW RECRUITMENT OF OVERSEAS EDUCATED PRC (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA)

APPROACH NATIONALS IS AN EXAMPLE OF OUR PRAGMATIC FLEXIBILITY MAY NOT BE ENOUGH. WE MAY HAVE TO GO HUNTING," SIR

SAID.

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BUT DAVID

NOTING THAT ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA, BRITAIN AND AUSTRALIA THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN COMING HERE TO WORK AND LIVE, SIR DAVID SAID MANY OF THEM HAD A PAST ASSOCIATION WITH HONG KONG.

"THE GOVERNMENT CAN HELP THEIR RETURN, PARTLY BY PROVIDING THE RIGHT TYPE OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLING FOR THEIR CHILDREN, AND PARTLY BY PROMOTING HONG KONG'S OPPORTUNITIES MORE EFFECTIVELY OVERSEAS.

"WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF A PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR SCHEME AIMED AT TRAWLING THIS PARTICULAR HE SAID.

JOINT POOL,"

ON LABOUR LEGISLATION, SIR DAVID SAID ONE OF THE UNSUNG PASSAGES OF HONG KONG'S SUCCESS WAS LABOUR RELATIONS.

"THEY HAVE BEEN AND REMAIN BY ANY

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

REMARKABLY STABLE.

"THIS STABILITY HAS BEEN ACHIEVED BY A COMBINATION OF PUSH AND PULL: THE PUSH OF GOVERNMENT INSPIRED LABOUR LEGISLATION AND THE PULL OF SHARED PROSPERITY,' HE SAID.*

"

HE SAID THAT THROUGHOUT THE 70S AND 80S, THE GOVERNMENT HAD GRADUALLY INTRODUCED CHANGES TO HONG KONG'S LABOUR LEGISLATION WHICH PROVIDED PRUDENT PROTECTION FOR ALL IN THE WORK PLACE.

"THERE HAVE BEEN OCCASIONAL COMPLAINTS FROM EMPLOYERS THAT CONDITIONS IMPOSED ARE TOO ONEROUS AND WILL DISADVANTAGE HONG KONG IN COMPETITION WITH ITS NEIGHBOURS.

"I HAVE TO SAY THAT I SEE NO EVIDENCE OF THIS.

"QUITE THE REVERSE; WE HAVE A SHORTAGE OF LABOUR BECAUSE OUR APPETITE FOR EXPANSION IS SO GREAT. HENCE OUR INTRODUCTION OF A SCHEME FOR THE IMPORTATION OF A LIMITED NUMBER OF WORKERS," SIR DAVID SAID.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY POINTED OUT THAT COMPETITION CONTINUED TO LEAD HONG KONG OUT OF DIRTY DRUDGE JOBS AND INTO THE AIR-CONDITIONED WORKPLACES OF HI-TECH INDUSTRY AND HIGHER SKILLS REQUIRED HIGHER WAGES AND HIGHER WAGES HAD HELPED THAT SUCH SKILLS HAD BEEN ACQUIRED.

+

"INDEED THE LOW-LEVEL OF WAGES ACCEPTABLE IN

IN A REFUGEE COMMUNITY PULLING ITSELF UP BY ITS BOOTSTRAPS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN THE HONG KONG OF 1990s.

"WE HAVE A TALENTED WORKFORCE WHICH NOW KNOWS ITS VALUE IN THE MARKET PLACE," SIR DAVID SAID.

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