XN000022-1993-11-17 — Page 21

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1993

GOVT ENCOURAGES PAPER RECYCLING

* *

THE

SCHE E IN

GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO PROMOTE

A PAPER RECYCLING

VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND EXPLORE NEW INITIATIVES, THE

SECRETARY FOR THE TREASURY, MR DONALD TSANG, SAID.

IN A WRITTEN REPLY TO A QUESTION BY THE HON HENRY TANG YING-YEN IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY); MR TSANG SAID SINCE 1990 GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS HAD BEEN ENCOURAGED TO SEPARATE WASTE PAPER BEFORE COLLECTION FOR RECYCLING.

"OVER 70 DEPARTMENTS AND BUILDINGS ARE NOW ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THIS SCHENE," HE SAID.

LAST YEAR 1.8 MILLION KILOGRAMMES OF WASTE PAPER WERE SEPARATED FOR RECYCLING IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

THE ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE IN 1993/94 ON PROCUREMENT OF PAPER FOR USE BY ALL DEPARTMENTS IS $67.5 MILLION.

USING RECYCLED PAPER WHEREVER PRACTICAL FOR PRINTING WOULD ADD ABOUT $12 MILLION A YEAR TO GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON PAPER ALONE, MR TSANG SAID.

0

WOULD

STATISTICAL COMPATIBILITY DEPENDS ON SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

THAT

THE DEGREE OF COMPATIBILITY OF STATISTICS AFTER 1997 BE ACHIEVED DEPENDS ON THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATISTICAL SYSTEM IN CHINA AS THAT IN HONG KONG BY THAT TIME.

THIS WAS STATED BY THE ACTING SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES, MR TAM WING-PONG, IN A WRITTEN REPLY TO A QUESTION BY THE HON ROGER LUK KOON-HOO IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

11 WHILE FULLER COMPATIBILITY OF STATISTICS AFTER 1997 WOULD BE USEFUL, WE MUST BEAR IN MIND THE NEED TO KEEP ABREAST WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS," MR TAM SAID.

HONG KONG ADOPTS STATISTICAL STANDARDS PROMULGATED BY INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS, SUCH AS THE UNITED NATIONS, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION, IN THE COMPILATION OF VARIOUS OFFICIAL STATISTICS.

GIVEN THE DIFFERENCES THAT EXIST IN THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM STRUCTURE BETWEEN CHINA AND HONG KONG, IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT THE STATISTICAL SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE FULLY COMPATIBLE, HE SAID.

AND

TWO

/IN ANOTHER