ENG-2007 — Page 52

16 Constitution and Administration

The Mainland Offices also monitored closely major developments on the Mainland especially in the areas of economy and trade. To facilitate Hong Kong businessmen in tapping business opportunities in the Mainland, the Mainland offices organised a number of business delegations to visit various provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions in the Mainland. Other activities organised included economic and trade seminars, study missions and researches. On investment promotion, the Investment Promotion Divisions of the Mainland offices liaised closely with the Mainland enterprises intending to invest in Hong Kong, helping them to go through the necessary procedures.

To promote Hong Kong and to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR in the Mainland, the Mainland offices organised a series of activities throughout the year, including seminars, exhibitions, receptions, cultural performances, film festivals and youth exchange programmes. Apart from roving exhibitions held in over 40 major Mainland cities, a major exhibition entitled 'A Decade of Achievements' was held in the Capital Museum of Beijing from June 27 to July 17, 2007 to showcase Hong Kong's achievement on various fronts. The exhibition attracted 120 000 visitors. Senior CPG leaders also visited the exhibition. As part of their regular promotion efforts, the Beijing Office continued to sponsor the broadcasting of three weekly radio programmes to promote Hong Kong and to update Mainland residents on the latest developments in Hong Kong.

Advisory and Statutory Bodies

The network of advisory and statutory bodies is a distinctive feature of the system of government. Its purpose is to tap professional expertise present in the community and to encourage public participation in government decision-making.

Advisory bodies give advice to the Government through senior government officials such as Principal Officials, Permanent Secretaries of Bureaux or department heads. A few advisory bodies pass their advice directly to the Chief Executive. The boards' areas of activities are wide-ranging. Some, such as the Telecommunications Standards Advisory Committee, deal with the interests of a particular industry. Others, such as the Transport Advisory Committee advise on a particular area of government policy, while the District Councils deal with district affairs. Statutory bodies, such as the Hospital Authority, have legal powers and responsibilities to perform specific functions in accordance with the relevant legislations.

Over 4000 members of the public are serving on about 400 advisory and statutory bodies. They include people who are representatives of the relevant professions or the community, and appointees by the Government mainly because of their expertise, knowledge or experience, and contribution to the work of the bodies concerned.

The Government oversees the running of the advisory and statutory bodies to make sure they operate efficiently and that they meet the needs of the community. The practice of bringing in a reasonable number of new members is maintained to ensure a continuing inflow of fresh and different ideas to these bodies. The