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Mr Wong underlined the importance of retaining the policy option of employing foreign workers to supplement Hong Kong's labour force where necessary in order to maintain the competitiveness of the territory as an open and highly flexible

economy.

Commenting on the Government's decision to put an end to the General Scheme and allowed it to run down naturally in the next year or so, Mr Wong said the labour market situation had changed considerably since 1989 when the General Scheme was introduced and fundamental changes were necessary to meet the current requirements of the labour market.

On the differences between the General Scheme and the SLS, Mr Wong said: "First, the quota allocation will be application specific and no industry sub-quota will be allocated. Second, the employers must advertise the vacancies and participate in the Job Matching Programme of the Labour Department for two months. (See annex for details.)

"We will also involve the Employees Retraining Board to provide tailor-made training or on-the-job training for local workers when necessary. We would only process the applications if the employers can prove and the Government is satisfied that the vacancies cannot be filled locally," he explained.

Mr Wong said the Government would discuss detailed arrangements for the implementation of the SLS at the Governor's Summit on Employment to be held on November 9.

"We will discuss the proposals arising from the review with the Legislative Council, the Labour Advisory Board and employees and employers representatives," he said.

"I believe these proposals strike a reasonable balance between the interests of employees and those of employers. The proposed SLS will be monitored by the Labour Advisory Board-a tripartite body comprising the Government, employees and employers representatives. We will also submit quarterly reports to the relevant panel of the Legislative Council," Mr Wong said.

On the Job Matching Programme (JMP) operated by the Labour Department, Mr Wong noted that so far out of some 3,000 registrants, about 1,800 of them had been helped to find jobs, representing a success rate of over 50 per cent.

"We aim to expand the JMP and will continue our efforts in seeking the support of employers and employees in the matching programme," he said.