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The Government would maintain its vigorous campaign against foreign workers taking up jobs illegally, he said.

Under the new Supplementary Labour Scheme, employers would have to prove that local workers were not available before their applications to import labour were processed.

Employers would have to advertise their vacancies for a specific period of time, Mr Patten said.

They would also have to register their vacancies with the Labour Department and participate in a job-matching scheme, which would involve the Employees Retraining Board where necessary for at least two months.

The Governor said Hong Kong's current unemployment rate of 3.5 per cent was very low by normal international standards and most communities would regard it as virtually full employment.

However, the Government would seek to meet the community's feeling that full employment should, in effect, be the Government's single most important welfare objective.

End/Wednesday, October 11, 1995

Governor sets goals for growth

Hong Kong must go beyond the physical framework to produce the "software" of success, the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, said today (Wednesday).

Opening the 1995-96 session of the Legislative Council, Mr Patten said $70 billion had been spent on the physical infrastructure since 1992.

"I do not think that any one will doubt the importance of these investments to our competitiveness," Mr Patten said.