A 01/02-4

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 31 October 2001 at 2:30pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments L.N. No.
1.Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2001212/2001
2.Coinage (Commemorative Coins) Order 2001213/2001
3.Employees Retraining Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) (No. 2) Notice 2001214/2001
4.Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Amendment) Regulation 2001218/2001
5.Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) (Amendment) Regulation 2001219/2001
6.Food Business (Amendment) Regulation 2001220/2001
7.Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2001221/2001
8.Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Cargo Ship Constructionand Survey) (Ships Built Before 1 September 1984) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2001 (L.N. 153 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001222/2001
9.Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Cargo Ship Construction and Survey) (Ships Built On or After 1 September 1984) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2001 (L.N. 154 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001223/2001
10.Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Survey) (Amendment) Regulation 2001 (L.N. 155 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001224/2001
11.Merchant Shipping (Safety)(GMDSS Radio Installations) (Amendment) Regulation 2001 (L.N. 156 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001225/2001
12.Merchant Shipping (Safety) (Life-Saving Appliances) Regulation (L.N. 157 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001226/2001
13.Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) (Certificates of Proficiency in Survival Craft, Rescue Boats and Fast Rescue Boats) (Amendment) Rules 2001 (L.N. 160 of 2001) (Commencement) Notice 2001227/2001


Other Papers

1. No.8-Report on the Administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund prepared by the Director of Immigration Incorporated in accordance with Regulation 12(b) of the Immigration Service (Welfare Fund) Regulation
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

2. No.9-Report of changes to the approved Estimates ofExpenditure approved during the first quarter of 2001-02
(Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
(to be presented by Secretary for the Treasury)

3. No.10-Statement of Accounts and Auditor's Report for the Fish Marketing Organization for the year ended 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for the Environment and Food)
4. No.11-Statement of Accounts and Auditor's Report for the Vegetable Marketing Organization for the year ended 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for the Environment and Food)

5. No.12-Marine Fish Scholarship Fund Report for the period from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for the Environment and Food)

6. No.13-Agricultural Products Scholarship Fund Report for the period from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for the Environment and Food)

7. No.14-Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Report of the Board of Trustees for the period 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

8. No.15-Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated Audited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

9. No.16-Office of the Telecommunications Authority Trading Fund Report 2000-2001
(to be presented by Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting)

10. No.17-Ocean Park CorporationAnnual Report 2000-2001
(to be presented by Hon Henry WU , who will address the Council)

11. No.18-Hongkong Post Annual Report 2000/01
(to be presented by Secretary for Economic Services)

12. No.19-Report by the Controller, Government Flying Service on the Administration of the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2001
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)

13. No.20-The Government Minute in response to the Report No.36 of the Public Accounts Committee dated July 2001
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration , who will address the Council)


IA. Address

Hon Margaret NG to address the Council on the Solicitors (Professional Indemnity) (Amendment) Rules 2001, which is subsidiary legislation laid on the Table of the Council on 11 July 2001.

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation) It has been reported that the ultimate bad debt ratio of loans approved under the Special Finance Scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises is estimated to be as high as 15%. In this connection, will the Government provide a breakdown, by industry and participating bank, of the bad debt ratios of the loan cases approved under the Scheme, the total amount of loans involved in these cases and, of the enterprises with bad debts, the respective numbers of the operating and the defunct ones? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Industry

2. Hon Audrey EU to ask:
(Translation)

Since March last year, non-civil servant employees may apply for subsidies under the Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training for attending English training courses and benchmark tests. Each applicant may receive subsidies for taking a maximum of three training courses and the relevant tests, and the level of subsidy for each course-cum-test is set at half of the relevant cost, subject to a ceiling of $1,500. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of applications approved and the total amount of subsidies granted so far, together with a breakdown of the applications submitted by individual applicants and companies respectively;

    (b)whether it has assessed the response from employees and employers to the Scheme; if so, of the assessment results; and

    (c)whether it will consider raising both the level and the ceiling of subsidies for each course, with a view to encouraging employees to take English diploma courses of longer duration?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

3. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask:
(Translation)

Regarding the defence against attacks involving the use of biochemical weapons and combating terrorists, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the procedures, according to the guidelines issued to various government departments, to be followed by departmental staff when they receive suspicious mails or parcels;

    (b)whether the Administration is planning to introduce legislation to freeze the assets of terrorists in Hong Kong or crack down on terrorist activities; if so, of the details and the timetable for legislation; and

    (c)whether public hospitals currently have enough stocks of medicines to cope with attacks involving the use of various types of biochemical weapons; if so, of the details, including the types of biochemical weapons that such medicines can cope with?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

4. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask:
(Translation)

It is learnt that a contractor has been commissioned to collect livestock waste from farmers, who then delivers a certain quantity of the collected waste to Sha Ling Livestock Waste Consolidation Plant for composting and transports the remaining quantity of waste to landfills for disposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the criteria it adopted for commissioning the contractor and the expiry date of the relevant commissioning contract;

    (b)the average daily tonnage of livestock waste currently collected by the contractor, the respective amounts of such collected waste delivered to Sha Ling Livestock Waste Consolidation Plant for composting and to landfills, as well as the landfills involved; and

    (c)the respective annual payments made to the contractor and to the landfill operators for disposal of the livestock waste; whether it has assessed if the existing arrangements have in fact resulted in double payment of fees and whether this is reasonable, and how long this situation has existed?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

5. Hon Cyd HO to ask:
(Translation)

The contents and outcome of the meetings held between the Hong Kong SAR Government and the relevant Mainland authorities on matters relating to cross-border cooperation may have far reaching impact on the society. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of meetings on cross-border issues attended by Hong Kong SAR officials at the rank of department head or above since the handover of sovereignty, as well as the attendance lists, agenda items, conclusions arrived at and outstanding issues to be followed up in respect of each of these meetings;

    (b)of the formal mechanisms in place for disseminating information on these meetings and enabling the public to have access to such information; if no formal mechanisms are in place, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether it will consider making it a standing arrangement to report proactively to the Legislative Council, before and after each round of meetings, matters relating to such meetings and the progress of the items discussed; if so, when this arrangement will be implemented; if not, whether it will assess how such a decision may undermine the accountability and transparency of the Government?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

6. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask:
(Translation)

It is learnt that the Sustainable Development Unit set up in April this year will put forward concrete proposals on the establishment of a sustainability impact assessment ("SIA") system and a Council for Sustainable Development ("CSD") within the Government by the end of this year. Government departments will in future be required to carry out SIAs in formulating major policies and programmes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)how decisions on whether SIA should be conducted on a certain policy or programme are made, with examples to illustrate;

    (b)whether SIAs are required to be conducted on cross-boundary major infrastructural projects; and

    (c)given that the Chief Executive proposed the establishment of a CSD in his 1999 Policy Address, but to date the Administration has not yet come up with any proposals on matters such as the composition and terms of reference of the CSD, its relationship with relevant statutory and advisory bodies, as well as the stage at which the CSD intervenes in the assessment mechanism, of the main reasons for the slow progress of work in this regard?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

*7. Hon Fred LI to ask:
(Translation)

According to the planning by the authorities, three large scale housing development projects in Kwun Tong (namely the developments at Cha Kwo Ling, Anderson Road and Choi Wan Road/Jordan Valley) will provide over 10 000 public housing units. As the authorities announced last month that the sale of Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats will be suspended until the end of June next year, that the number of HOS flats for sale will be reduced thereafter, and that any land granted to the Housing Authority ("HA") for HOS development but still undeveloped will be resumed, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the impact of the above decisions on these three developments; and

    (b)of the area, location and the number of units to be built on each piece of land in the three developments on which construction of the following will take place:

    (i)HOS flats, as planned;

    (ii)public rental housing, as planned or to be re-zoned; and

    (iii)private housing, as planned or to be re-zoned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*8. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask:
(Translation)

Regarding the installation of the Multi-Media On Board system on franchised buses and public light buses by the RoadShow Group to broadcast audio-visual programmes, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of franchised buses and public light buses on which such system has been installed by the Group so far;

    (b)the total number of complaints the Transport Department ("TD") and the Transport Complaints Unit have received from passengers since November 2000 about excessively high volume of audio-visual programmes broadcast by the system, and the respective percentages of such figures in the total numbers of the complaints concerning bus and public light bus services in the same period; and

    (c)the follow-up actions the TD has taken in respect of the complaints about excessively high volume of audio-visual programmes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*9. Hon SZETO Wah to ask:
(Translation)

Regarding the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL")'s present practice of not offering concessionary fares to full-time students aged above 25, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knows if the MTRCL has plans to offer fare concessions to such students; if it has no plan to do so, of the reasons for that;

    (b)it has assessed the implications on MTRCL's annual revenue in offering fare concessions to such students; and

    (c)it will consider offering a higher level of travel subsidy to such students?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*10. Hon Emily LAU to ask:
(Translation)

The criteria and procedure adopted for vetting and approving applications for grants from the Quality Education Fund ("QEF") and the effectiveness of the QEF have been criticized. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the average time taken to complete the processing of an application for grants from the QEF; whether QEF's vetting and approval procedure is relatively lax in comparison with those of the other funds that receive public funding;

    (b)whether the Education Department has applied for grants from the QEF; if so, of the number of the department's projects that have been granted funding and the total amount of the grants awarded; whether they have assessed if Education Department's application for grants would pose unfair competition with schools and other organizations;

    (c)whether the Administration conducts regular reviews on the effectiveness of the schemes funded by the QEF; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)of the measures in place to enhance the monitoring of the operation and effectiveness of the QEF?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*11. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask:
(Translation)

When awarding certain service contracts of information technology ("IT") projects, the Administration demands the contractors concerned to deposit performance bonds which will be returned only after a certain period of time following the completion of the contracts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following:
    (a)in respect of the service contracts for IT projects administered by the Information Technology Services Department in the past three years, the percentage of them in which performance bonds payable by contractors were demanded, the total amount of performance bonds involved and the percentage of this amount in the total value of the relevant contracts, as well as the first quartile, the median and the third quartile of the percentages of the performance bonds in the value of the relevant contracts;

    (b)the criteria it has adopted for determining whether a contractor is required to deposit performance bonds; and

    (c)whether it will abolish the requirement of performance bonds so that small and medium enterprises will not be excluded from bidding for the contracts due to lack of liquid capital; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

*12. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask:
(Translation)

With regard to curbing the sources of finance of international terrorists and their organizations, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of court orders made in each of the past five years to freeze or confiscate the local assets of people or organizations involved in serious crimes, and the amount of money concerned; and whether, among these cases, there were cases involving terrorists or their organizations; if so, of the number of such cases;

    (b)whether there is legislation to allow the confiscation of the local assets of terrorists or their organizations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the measures it has taken and those it will take further for staunching the sources of finance of terrorists and their organizations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*13. Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask:
(Translation)

Regarding the early identification of children and youths with mental health problems, and the number of such persons, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of children and youths aged under 15 who have received treatment for mental health problems at various out-patient clinics and assessment centres under the Hospital Authority and Department of Health in each of the past three fiscal years, together with a breakdown of these numbers by the type of mental health problems and patient acuity;

    (b)whether the number of such persons is on the rise in recent years; if so, of the reasons for that;

    (c)whether it knows the percentages of persons with mental health problems in the total population of children and youths in countries whose levels of development are comparable to that of Hong Kong, and of the percentages of such persons who have not received any treatment;

    (d)making projections on the basis of the percentages mentioned in (c), of the estimated number of children and youths who have mental health problems but have not received any treatment in Hong Kong at present; and

    (e)of the measures in place to enhance communication and co-operation among health care institutions, social welfare services providers, schools and parents, with a view to early identification of children and youths with mental health problems so that treatment can be provided and assistance offered to their parents at the earliest opportunity?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*14. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask:
(Translation)

The Fisheries Protection Regulations (Cap. 171, sub. leg.) prohibit the use of explosives, toxic substances and any apparatus of a class or description specified to capture fish, as well as the possession of explosives or toxic substances for the purpose of fishing. In relation to the enforcement of the Regulations, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number, together with a breakdown by offences, of prosecutions instituted in each of the past three years for the contravention of the above provisions of the Regulations, and the penalty imposed by the court on each person convicted; and

    (b)whether it will increase the number of officers deployed to enforce the Regulations; if so, of the timing of the increase and the number of additional officers that it proposes to be deployed; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*15. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask:
(Translation)

Many members of the public have complained to me about the grossly insufficient number of runs of Light Rail Transit ("LRT") trains during peak hours which results in serious overcrowding in train compartments and on platforms and a higher risk of accidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the respective hourly average number of runs of trains and riderships of each LRT route during peak and off-peak hours;

    (b)the measures in place to urge the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation to provide sufficient LRT train service during peak hours; and

    (c)the measures in place to prevent passengers on overcrowded LRT platforms from falling onto the tracks?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*16. Hon Audrey EU to ask:
(Translation) Regarding the regulation of road excavation works, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of Excavation Permits ("EPs") issued last year, and the average as well as the total numbers of days in which excavation works permitted under such EPs were actually carried out;

    (b)of the measures in place to reduce the number of road excavation works carried out on the same section of a road; if so, of the details; and

    (c)whether an overall assessment has been made of the impact of road excavation works on road traffic; if so, of the results of the assessment; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment and put forward improvement measures to shorten the periods of road excavation works and to oversee the timely completion of such works?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

*17. Hon Cyd HO to ask:
(Translation)

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") stipulates in its security services briefing-out contract that the LCSD has the right to deduct the contractor's contract payment for any default of duty. In accordance with this stipulation, a total of $100,000 was deducted in the past two years from the contract payment to the current security services contractor of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre ("HKCC") because street sleepers had been found sleeping inside the HKCC's premises. Under the new security services contract for the HKCC recently re-tendered by the LCSD, the deduction rate for each count of default is set at $848, which is considerably higher than the original rate of $200. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the statistics on the respective numbers of street sleepers who habitually sleep inside LCSD venues, including town halls, games halls, civic centres and parks etc., in various districts;

    (b)of the number of public complaints received in the past two years about the street-sleeping problem in the HKCC premises, and the number of reported cases in the same period involving street sleepers vandalizing or dirtying the HKCC premises and stealing the equipment there;

    (c)whether it is the Government's policy to prohibit members of the public from sleeping anywhere within the boundaries of government establishments, even if the place is not inside a building; if not, whether the LCSD's practice of deducting the contractor's contract payment runs contrary to the prevailing policy;

    (d)as the LCSD stated in a press release on 3 October that the security services contractor of HKCC would not have his contract payment deducted if he had made all due efforts in the discharge of his duties, of the criteria adopted for determining whether the contractor has made such efforts; whether it has assessed if such criteria may lead to abuse of power and even use of force by the contractor to drive out street sleepers;

    (e)of the LCSD venues where security services have been briefed out to private contractors, and the total amount of deductions from the security service contractors due to the street-sleeping problem in the past two years, together with a breakdown of such deductions by each venue; and how LCSD deals with the street-sleeping problem at its venues where security services have not been briefed out; and

    (f)whether the LCSD has statistical data to support deducting the contractor's contract payment as an effective practice to curb the street-sleeping problem at the venues concerned; if not, whether the LCSD will consider abolishing this practice?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*18. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask:
(Translation)

Regarding the installation of platform screen doors at railway stations, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it knows the latest progress and the implementation timetable of the MTR Corporation Limited's programme of retrofitting platform screen doors at its 30 underground stations; and

    (b)it will consider stipulating that, where feasible, all newly-built railway stations should be fitted with platform screen doors on commissioning?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*19. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask:
(Translation) At present, the annual amount of waste delivered to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre ("CWTC") for treatment is less than its design capacity. In the budget briefing held on 21 March this year, the Director of Environmental Protection informed Members that negotiation with the contractor was underway with a view to reaching a new agreement on the Government's funding for the operation of the CWTC by the end of this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the latest progress of the negotiation and when the new agreement is expected to be reached;

    (b)whether the future funding payable to the contractor for the operation of the CWTC is estimated to be less than the present amount; if so, of the extent of reduction; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the measures it has adopted to utilize the excess capacity of the CWTC?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment and Food

*20. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask:
(Translation)

A private matriculation school which had operated for only two months suddenly closed down at the beginning of this month, resulting in quite a number of students suffering financial losses. Regarding the protection of the interests of students in private sector schools, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the number of private sector schools which suddenly closed down in the past three years, and the total number of relevant complaints received;

    (b)the legal channels through which the affected students may recover the tuition fees already paid; and

    (c)the mechanism in place for monitoring the financial situation of private sector schools?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2001

2. Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2001

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2001 : Secretary for Transport

2. Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2001 : Secretary for the Treasury

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Companies (Amendment) Bill 2001 : Secretary for Financial Services

IV. Motions

1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Secretary for the Environment and Food to move the following motion:


RESOLVED that the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Chemical Residues) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 146 of 2001 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 27 June 2001, be amended -
    (a)by repealing section 21;

    (b)in Schedule 4, in the entry in column (2) opposite to the entry of "Pig" in column (1), in paragraph (a), by repealing "5" and substituting "at least 5".
2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment and Food to move the following motion:



RESOLVED that the Harmful Substances in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2001, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 148 of 2001 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 27 June 2001, be amended by repealing section 4 and substituting -
    "4. Regulation substituted

      Regulation 3A is repealed and the following substituted -

      "3A. Prohibition of import and sale of fish, meat or milk containing prohibited substances

      No person shall import, sell or consign or deliver for sale for human consumption, any fish, meat or milk which contains any substance specified in the Second Schedule.".".


V. Members' Motions

1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to move the motion
the content of which was contained in the paper issued on 26 October 2001 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 76/01-02

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Housing

2. Proposed resolution under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Hon IP Kwok-him to move the following motion:


That the Panel on Home Affairs be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap.382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of the Ordinance for the purpose of ascertaining whether the nomination of Mr YEUNG Kwong was vetted by the 2001 Honours Committee.

Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration

3. Report of the Working Group on District Councils Review

Hon IP Kwok-him:
(Translation)

That, regarding the Report of the Working Group on District Councils Review, this Council urges the Government to accept extensively the views gathered during the public consultation and appropriately revise the recommendations contained in the Report and, in order to elevate the functions of the District Councils, this Council also requests the Government to gradually transfer to them some of the Government's functions for the provision of cultural, leisure and environmental hygiene facilities.

Amendment to Hon IP Kwok-him's motion Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

To delete "and" from "appropriately revise the recommendations contained in the Report and," and to add "including: (a) revising the recommendation for the establishment of consultative committees outside the District Council framework and, instead, allowing more District Council members to attend meetings of District Management Committees, with a view to enhancing more active participation and commitment of District Council members in district management; (b) substantially increasing the funding for the District Councils to implement minor works projects and expanding their functions so as to improve more effectively the cityscape and leisure facilities; (c) putting in place a mechanism for the District Councils to hold annual motion debates and for senior officials to respond in such debates, so as to strengthen the interaction between District Council members and the Government and to enable District Council members to discharge their function of giving advice on their own initiative; (d) consulting the District Councils on fees for district cultural and leisure facilities and services, market rentals and renewal of municipal services contracts; and (e) considering setting up independent District Council secretariats to provide full and independent support to the work of the District Councils;" afterwards; and to add ", including organizing district festivals and district cultural and leisure activities, upgrading district market facilities and improving district environmental hygiene" after "leisure and environmental hygiene facilities".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Developing nanotechnology

Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah:
(Translation)

That, as the rapid development of nanotechnology, an emerging domain of science, will bring about revolutionary changes to all industrial sectors in the 21st century, and all developed countries are now actively researching this domain, this Council urges the Government to develop nanotechnology, with a view to fostering the development of the local economy.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Industry

Clerk to the Legislative Council