XN000022-1996-09-12 — Page 4

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Thirdly, we have of course been attempting to establish schemes for the importation of labour which meet our requirements as a modern developed economy while at the same time carrying the support of employers and employees. Now, that has not proved easy but we want to continue to try to work with employers and employees to get the best possible balance and to get a programme which everybody thinks in the circumstances is a reasonable one for an economy like ours which is still growing at a steady rate, a trend rate of about 5 per cent a year.

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For the longer term and I repeat it is where our panellists concentrated their attention for the longer term what we have been particularly concerned about is to ensure that Hong Kong has the vocational training and the retraining that we need. We have had a couple of consultancies looking at those two issues. We will be consulting widely on the way ahead and I hope that we will be able to agree to proposals with the employers and employees which will ensure that we are able to improve our skill base in Hong Kong and give people the opportunity of moving from one area of employment to another as quickly as possible.

The Financial Secretary of course announced in his Budget a number of measures for giving greater assistance to the service industries which are now such an important source of employment in Hong Kong but that does not mean that we can forget the extremely important role played by manufacturing, and we will continue to try to work with our manufacturers to meet their principal requirements.

Overall, the best way we can help sustain high levels of employment in Hong Kong is by retaining our competitive edge. The international think-tanks have been pretty complimentary about us over the last year and of course so has the International Monetary Fund, but we are always open to advice and always aware that we have got to keep ahead of the competition. But I am grateful for everybody who took part in the discussion today. As ever the conversation was a lively one and I am sure the debate will continue well after today's summit.

Question: Governor, some trade unions, while welcoming what they call 'short term improvements' say that the Government's proposals do not go far enough. How would you react to this criticism?

Governor: I think I mentioned that what we are most concerned about is what is done in the long term and there I think the focus has got to be on training, on retraining, above all, and I hope that the measures that we bring forward in both those areas will command the confidence of the employees as well as the employers.