A 98/99-45(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 14 July 1999 at 9:00 am

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation L.N. No.
1. Post Office (Amendment) Regulation 1999 178/99
2. Air Navigation (Hong Kong) (Amendment of Schedule 16) Order 1999179/99
3. Telecommunication (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 1999 180/99
4. Discovery Bay Tunnel Link Regulation 181/99
5. Merchant Shipping (Safety) (High Speed Craft) (Amendment) Regulation 1999182/99
6. Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 2) Order 1999 183/99
7. Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Markets) (Designation and Amendment of Tenth Schedule) (No. 4) Order 1999184/99
8.Declaration of Markets in the Regional Council Area (Amendment) (No. 2) Declaration 1999185/99
9.Tax Reserve Certificates (Fourth Series) (Amendment) Rules 1999186/99
10. Tax Reserve Certificates (Amendment) Ordinance 1999 (24 of 1999) (Commencement) Notice 1999187/99

Sessional Papers

1. No. 142 -Sir Robert Black
Trust Fund Annual Report for the year 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999

(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

2. No. 143 - Employees Retraining Board 1996-1997 Annual Report

(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

3. No. 144 -Employees Retraining Board 1997-1998 Annual Report

(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

4. No. 145 -Construction Industry Training Authority
Annual Report 1998

(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

5. No. 146 -Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Annual Report 1998/1999

(to be presented by Secretary for Trade and Industry)

6. No. 147 -Airport Authority Hong Kong
Annual Report 98/99

(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

7. No. 148 -1998 Annual Report by the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

(to be presented by Hon Fred LI, who will address the Council)

8. No. 149 - Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee
Annual Report 1998

(to be presented by Hon Howard YOUNG, who will address the Council)

9. No. 150 -J.E. Joseph Trust Fund Report for the period 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999

(to be presented by Secretary for Economic Services)

10. No. 151 -Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Report for the period 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999
(to be presented by Secretary for Economic Services)

11. No. 152-Securities and Futures Commission
Annual Report 1998-99

(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

Reports

1. Report of the Bills Committee on Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 1999
(to be presented by Hon Ronald ARCULLI, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

2. Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 1998
(to be presented by Hon Mrs Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

3. Chinese Medicine Bill
(to be presented by Prof Hon NG Ching-fai, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

4. Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1999
(to be presented by Hon Ronald ARCULLI, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon YEUNG Sum to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the operation of the Public Complaints Committee of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), the function of which is to handle complaints in relation to medical incidents, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether it knows if HA has deployed a certain number of executive and health care personnel to assist the Committee in handling the complaints received, on a full-time basis; if so, of the details of such deployment;

  2. whether it will request HA to expeditiously increase the transparency of the Committee in handling complaints; if the HA has such plans, of the details of that; and

  3. of the circumstances in which it will consider setting up an independent statutory body to handle complaints lodged by patients and their family members about the medical services provided by HA?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

2. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

On 6 May this year, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") decided to implement further reforms at corporate and business levels and the phased transfer of the management and maintenance services in public housing estates to the private sector. To this end, the HA has set up a task force, while the Housing Department ("HD") has also formed a working group and four sub-groups to work on the arrangements for staff and service transfer. On the other hand, Article 7 of the International Labour Convention No. 151 on Labour Relations (Public Service) stipulates that appropriate measures shall be taken by the executive authorities to encourage negotiations between the management and employees of public bodies in determining the terms and conditions of employment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether staff of the HD are represented in the above task force, working group and sub-groups; if not, the reasons for that; and

  2. how it will give effect to the provisions of the Convention when implementing the above programmes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

3. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that for security reasons, arrangements were made on 1 July for the Vice-President who visited Hong Kong recently to travel to the airport by a special train of the Airport Express to leave Hong Kong for Beijing. As a result, the Airport Express service was interrupted for 30 minutes and all entrances to and some part of the platforms of the Airport Express and some parts of the Passenger Terminal were sealed off, causing delay to over a hundred passengers who were to travel to the airport by the Airport Express. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the official who made the decision on the arrangements for the Airport Express special train and temporary closure of the facilities, and whether it has assessed if there are adequate justifications for the decision;

  2. of the reasons for the authorities concerned not to announce in advance the special arrangement of temporary suspension of the Airport Express train service, so that other passengers might make alternative arrangements as early as possible and the inconvenience caused to them could be minimized; and

  3. whether similar arrangements had been made during visits by foreign high-ranking officials; if so, of the details of those arrangements; if not, of the reasons for the arrangement this time to be different from those for high-ranking officials who visited Hong Kong in the past?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Security
Secretary for Transport

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

It is reported that, to tie in with the construction of a theme park at Penny's Bay, the Government will submit to the Town Planning Board ("TPB") a revised North Lantau Outline Zoning Plan to develop the northern part of Lantau Island into a major area for tourism. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the details of the proposed revisions and when it plans to submit the outline zoning plan to TPB;

  2. of the affected facilities which were planned to be constructed at Penny's Bay; and the new arrangements for these facilities; and

  3. how the revised North East Lantau Development Plan will tie in with the overall development of Lantau Island, such as residential development, population growth and road planning?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

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

The Board of Education recommended in the "Report on Review of 9-Year Compulsory Education" that research and pilot tests be conducted on the Academic Ability Assessment ("AAA"). It also recommended that if the findings of the research and pilot tests proved that the AAA was feasible, the new assessment should be adopted as soon as possible to replace the Academic Aptitude Test ("AAT"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the progress of the research and pilot tests on the AAA;

  2. whether it has assessed if the implementation of the AAA from the 2000/2001 school year onwards can be achieved, as proposed by the Board of Education; and

  3. whether it will consider ultimately abolishing public examinations for the purpose of allocating secondary school places; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

Regarding applications for registration of kindergartens, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the longest, shortest and average time taken by the authorities to approve applications for registration of kindergartens, in each of the past three years; and

  2. whether it has assessed, since the implementation of the improved procedure for registering kindergartens in February this year, how the average time required by the authorities in processing such applications compares to the time previously required?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*7. Hon LEE Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that, in its recent inspections of over 260 schools in Hong Kong, the Labour Department found that the school authorities generally had little regard for the occupational safety of teaching and non-teaching staff, and some even instructed school janitors to perform duties of a dangerous nature. It was also reported that there had been an upward trend in recent years on the number of accidents occurring in the secondary school laboratories. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether the Education Department has any plans to promote the school authorities' awareness of occupational safety and assist schools in establishing a system to ensure occupational safety; if so, of the details of such plans;

  2. of the specific measures taken to ensure that school janitors will perform duties of a dangerous nature only when there are adequate protection and safety equipment; and

  3. of the measures in place to upgrade the safety equipment of laboratories in secondary schools so as to reduce casualties caused by accidents?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*8. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the total exhibition area available at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and its extension (collectively referred to "HKCEC" below);

  2. of the percentage of the exhibition area used in the total exhibition area available at the HKCEC in each of the past five years; and whether the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("HKTDC") has assessed when the usage of exhibition area at the HKCEC will be close to full capacity;

  3. of the measures to be adopted by the HKTDC to facilitate the development of Hong Kong into a trade fair capital; and

  4. whether it has formulated any long-term plans to support the development of Hong Kong's exhibition services industry, such as by constructing more large-scale exhibition venues?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

*9. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the transfer of public services to the private sector, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. of the service items which have been contracted out or will be contracted out shortly to private organisations and their respective dates of commencement; and how the annual amount of public expenditure required for each service item would compare to that required if the service concerned continued to be provided by relevant government department;

  2. whether it knows the number of staff recruited or about to be recruited by such private organisations for providing the services concerned;

  3. of the criteria adopted in selecting private organisations to provide services; and

  4. whether any relevant performance indicators have been formulated and applied to monitor the performance of the private organisations concerned; if so, of the results of the performance assessments on these private organisations; if it has not formulated such indicators or undertaken any monitoring, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

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

In reply to the Chairman of the House Committee of this Council on 30 March this year, the Director of Administration said that, as advised by the Department of Justice and the Financial Services Bureau, unlike statutory corporations or bodies whose ordinances stipulate their independence from the Government, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") is "part of the Government" and the Chief Executive of the HKMA is hence designated under Article 62(6) of the Basic Law by the Chief Executive to attend meetings of the Legislative Council, its committees and subcommittees (hereinafter referred to as "meetings of the LegCo"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether the above provision of the Basic Law stipulates that the Chief Executive shall designate only officials from establishments which are part of the Government to attend meetings of the LegCo; if not, of the rationale for the Chief Executive designating only such officials for attendance at meetings of the LegCo;

  2. of the statutory corporations or bodies whose ordinances stipulate that they are not part of the Government and whose responsible persons should therefore not be designated to attend meetings of the LegCo under the above provision of the Basic Law; and the criteria for determining whether or not a statutory corporation or body is part of the Government; and

  3. whether the Chief Executive's exclusion of the responsible persons of the following statutory corporations or bodies from the designation of officials for attendance at meetings of the LegCo made on 31 December last year was based on the rationale that these corporations or bodies are not part of the Government:

    1. Office of Judiciary;

    2. Office of the Ombudsman;

    3. Equal Opportunities Commission;

    4. Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data;

    5. Hospital Authority;

    6. Hong Kong Housing Authority; and

    7. Securities and Futures Commission?
Public Officer to reply: Chief Secretary for Administration

*11. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask:

I have received a complaint that a group of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong through the Man Kam To Border Control Point had had their travel documents collected and then had to wait for more than one hour before the immigration formalities were completed, and that the processing time for immigration clearance for mainland tourists at the Man Kam To Border Control Point is allegedly much longer than that at other border control points. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the average processing time for immigration clearance for mainland tourists at each border control point in the past year; and of the reasons for the differences, if any?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

*12. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

At a meeting of the LegCo Panel on Health Services, the officials of the Department of Health ("DH") advised that the department had encountered difficulties in following up the latest development on the incident in which the agricultural products of four European countries had been contaminated, as the countries concerned had not taken the initiative to provide the department with relevant information. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

  1. whether the HKSAR Government has signed any agreement with the countries of the European Union to require that, if a party detects irregularities concerning its foods or those of the other party, it should take the initiative to inform the other party immediately and propose contingency measures; if so, of the reasons for DH having difficulties in collecting information in the incident; if not, of the measures to enhance the communication between both parties;

  2. of the reasons for not following the more cautious approach taken by countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia in handling such contaminated agricultural products; and

  3. whether, over the past three years, connection has been established with the food safety regulation authorities worldwide and agreement concluded regarding the liaison mechanism and mode of co-operation; if so, of the details; if not, of the problems encountered?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*13. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the following up of cases in which auditors have included qualifications or adverse statements in the accounts contained in the annual reports of listed companies, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

  1. the numbers of listed companies in the accounts of which auditors included qualifications or adverse statements over the past three years, broken down by the categories of the qualifications and adverse statements;

  2. the criteria adopted by the relevant monitoring bodies in deciding on whether to follow up, and the way to follow up, the financial situation of such listed companies;

  3. the number of cases followed up by the relevant monitoring bodies over the past three years, and the outcomes thereof; and

  4. whether the relevant monitoring bodies have planned to actively follow up such cases so as to give full effect to the auditors' monitoring of the accounts of listed companies?
Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services

*14. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask:

NetDay (web address: www.netday.org) is a grassroots voluntary effort in the United States which aims at installing basic wiring in every school so as to make it Internet-ready. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will take action to encourage similar initiatives in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*15. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

The Hygiene Services Committee of the Department of Health discussed in March 1998 the proposal to commission a consultancy review by Australia New Zealand Food Authority on the food safety control system in Hong Kong. It is learned that the consultancy review has not been carried out. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

  1. the scope of review of the proposed consultancy review; how it compares with the scope of study of the Consultancy Study on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene Services ("Consultancy Study") commissioned by the Administration in August last year; and

  2. the reasons for not carrying out the consultancy review; whether it will reconsider conducting the consultancy review under its original proposed scope or with amendments made after making reference to the Consultancy Study; if it will, of the specific time table; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*16. Hon Christine LOH to ask:

In reply to a question on 26 May this year regarding the proposed Shenzhen Western Corridor linking Shekou and Yuen Long, the Administration said that it was conducting the Crosslinks Further Study ("CFS"). Also, it was recently reported that the Chief Executive in Council had given approval to proceed with the project. In this connection, will the Administration inform this Council:

  1. of the estimated percentage increase in cross-border traffic in the first year after the opening of the Corridor; whether it has assessed the impacts of such increase in cross-border traffic on traffic conditions in Hong Kong; and whether it plans to put a limit on the number of vehicles using the Corridor;

  2. whether Stage 2 of CFS, which includes the environmental impact assessment, has been completed;

    1. if so, of the environmental impacts arising from the traffic of the Corridor on the wildlife in Deep Bay and Mai Po Natural Reserve, in particular the dolphins and on the air quality in Hong Kong; and

    2. if not, of the basis for arriving at the judgement in the above-mentioned reply that the new crossings will not cause any insurmountable adverse environmental impacts;

    3. of the decision of the Chief Executive in Council in respect of the Corridor; and

    4. whether the SAR Government can decide not to proceed with the project even if the relevant Mainland authorities have already approved it?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

    *17. Hon Emily LAU to ask:

    Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council of the area, selling price and name of successful bidder in respect of each piece of land sold by public auction in the past two years?

    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

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

    It is reported that in order to avoid having to wait in the long queue at the border control point on the Mainland side, some people returning to Hong Kong through the Lo Wu Crossing make unauthorized payments at the Mainland control point, so as to be led to depart directly via a special channel, and that such activities are particularly rampant during the peak periods on weekends and holidays. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

    1. it has received complaints about such activities from members of the public in the past two years; if so, of the number of such complaints and the follow-up action taken by the relevant authorities; and

    2. it has discussed with Mainland officials through the border liaison channels on ways to curb such activities?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

    At present, in the event of a default in maintenance payment, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") recipient families which are also receiving maintenance can be granted advance payment from the Social Welfare Department only after the court has issued a summon to the maintenance payers concerned. During the period between the due date for maintenance payment and the date they are granted such advance payment, these families are often faced with financial hardship. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider deducting, in arrears, the amounts of maintenance that these families had actually received in the previous month from their CSSA entitlement, instead of deducting the amount of maintenance that these families should receive in the same month as they receive CSSA payment, so as to reduce the impact of unstable maintenance income on these families?

    Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

    * For written reply.

    III. Bills

    First Reading

    1. Adaptation of Laws (No.27) Bill 1999

    2. Adaptation of Laws (No.21) Bill 1999

    3. Adaptation of Laws (No.20) Bill 1999

    4. Adaptation of Laws (No.32) Bill 1999

    5. Adaptation of Laws (No.33) Bill 1999

    6. Electronic Transactions Bill

    7. Adaptation of Laws (No.25) Bill 1999

    8. Adaptation of Laws (No.26) Bill 1999

    9. Adaptation of Laws (No.28) Bill 1999

    10. Adaptation of Laws (No.31) Bill 1999

    11. Adaptation of Laws (No.34) Bill 1999

    12. Adaptation of Laws (No.22) Bill 1999

    13. Adaptation of Laws (No.29) Bill 1999

    14. Adaptation of Laws (No.23) Bill 1999

    15. Adaptation of Laws (No.24) Bill 1999

    16. Adaptation of Laws (No.30) Bill 1999

    Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

    1. Adaptation of Laws (No.27) Bill 1999:Chief Secretary for Administration

    2. Adaptation of Laws (No.21) Bill 1999:Secretary for Transport

    3. Adaptation of Laws (No.20) Bill 1999:Secretary for Financial Services

    4.Adaptation of Laws (No.32) Bill 1999:Secretary for Education and Manpower

    5.Adaptation of Laws (No.33) Bill 1999:Secretary for Education and Manpower

    6.Electronic Transactions Bill:Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

    7. Adaptation of Laws (No.25) Bill 1999:Secretary for the Treasury

    8. Adaptation of Laws (No.26) Bill 1999:Secretary for the Civil Service

    9. Adaptation of Laws (No.28) Bill 1999:Secretary for Economic Services

    10.Adaptation of Laws (No.31) Bill 1999:Secretary for Economic Services

    11. Adaptation of Laws (No.34) Bill 1999:Secretary for Economic Services

    12. Adaptation of Laws (No.22) Bill 1999:Secretary for Security

    13. Adaptation of Laws (No.29) Bill 1999:Secretary for Security

    14. Adaptation of Laws (No.23) Bill 1999:Secretary for Home Affairs

    15. Adaptation of Laws (No.24) Bill 1999:Secretary for Home Affairs

    16. Adaptation of Laws (No.30) Bill 1999:Secretary for Home Affairs

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

    1. Chinese Medicine Bill:Secretary for Health and Welfare

    2. Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

    3. Road Tunnels (Government) (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Transport

    4. Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 1998:Secretary for Transport

    5. Insurance Companies (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Financial Services

    6. Occupational Retirement Schemes (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Financial Services

    7. Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1999 :Secretary for Education and Manpower

    8. Lingnan University Bill:Secretary for Education and Manpower

    9. Adaptation of Laws (No.18) Bill 1999:Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

    10. Supplementary Appropriation (1998-99) Bill 1999:Secretary for the Treasury

    11. Adaptation of Laws (No.4) Bill 1999:Secretary for Works

    12. Disciplined Services Welfare Funds Legislation (Amendment) Bill 1999:Secretary for Security

    IV. Motions

    1. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

    Secretary for Health and Welfare to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 25 June 1999, be approved -

    1. the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 1999; and

    2. the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 1999.

    (The two Regulations are in Appendix I)

    2. Proposed resolution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance
    Secretary for the Treasury to move the following motion:

    (The proposed resolution is in Appendix II)

    3. Proposed resolution under the Immigration Ordinance

    Secretary for Security to move the following motion:

    RESOLVED that Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) be amended -

    1. in paragraph 1(2), by repealing sub-subparagraphs (a) and (b) and substituting -

        "(a) of a parent and child, between a person and a child born to such person in or out of wedlock;";

    2. by repealing paragraph 2(a) and substituting -

        "(a) A Chinese citizen born in Hong Kong -

      1. before 1 July 1987; or

      2. on or after 1 July 1987 if his father or mother was settled or had the right of abode in Hong Kong at the time of his birth or at any later time.";
    3. by repealing paragraph 2(c) and substituting -

        "(c) A person of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong of a parent who, at the time of the birth of that person, was a Chinese citizen falling within category (a) or (b).".
    Amendment to Secretary for Security's motion

    Secretary for Justice:

    RESOLVED that the motion to be moved by the Secretary for Security under section 59A of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) at the Legislative Council sitting of 14 July 1999 be amended in paragraph (c) by deleting the proposed paragraph 2(c) and substituting -

      "(c) A person of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to a parent who, at the time of birth of that person, was a Chinese citizen falling within category (a) or (b).".
    V. Members' Motions

    1. Legal problems associated with the millennium bug

    Hon TSANG Yok-sing: (Translation)

    That, as the Y2K problem (the millennium bug) may give rise to a large number of legal disputes, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously assess the scope and gravity of the problem and take effective precautionary and contingency measures, including:

    1. examining whether there is a need to legislate for stipulating the civil and criminal liabilities associated with the millennium bug;

    2. setting up a tribunal dedicated to handling small claims litigation relating to the millennium bug, so as to alleviate the pressure on the Judiciary;

    3. encouraging and assisting the public in resolving legal disputes arising from the millennium bug through mediation and arbitration; and

    4. strengthening education and publicity so that the public may have a correct understanding of their rights and the means for claiming compensation when they suffer losses arising from the millennium bug.
    Amendment to Hon TSANG Yok-sing's motion

    Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)

    To delete "a large number of" and substitute with "various"; to delete "expeditiously assess the scope and gravity of the problem and"; to delete ", including:" and substitute with "and"; to delete "(a) examining whether there is a need to legislate for stipulating the civil and criminal liabilities associated with the millennium bug; (b) setting up a tribunal dedicated to handling small claims litigation relating to the millennium bug, so as to alleviate the pressure on the Judiciary; (c) encouraging and assisting the public in resolving legal disputes arising from the millennium bug through mediation and arbitration; and (d) strengthening" and substitute with "strengthen"; to add "the millennium bug problem, including" after " understanding of"; to delete "and the means for claiming compensation"; and to add "and the means for dealing with the various disputes" after "the millennium bug".

    Public Officer to attend:Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

    2. Assisting the development of small and medium enterprises

    Hon HUI Cheung-ching: (Translation)

    That, as the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in all sectors are still facing a difficult operating environment, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously formulate a comprehensive policy to support the SMEs in order to increase their capability and opportunities for development, and to strive to create a favourable business environment, particularly by:

    1. promoting the use of information technology in SMEs and the shifting of SMEs towards high value-added industries, and making efforts to train local talents and attract highly-skilled technologists from the Mainland and overseas;

    2. providing additional resources to open up the Mainland and overseas markets more vigorously;

    3. actively considering setting up, through various support organizations, an Internet Shopping Mall for SMEs featuring competitive pricing, wide coverage and specialization, with a view to promoting business transactions through the Internet;

    4. enhancing and promoting quality accreditation services in all sectors to tie in with the shifting of local industries towards high value-added industries; and

    5. in addition to the Special Finance Scheme for SMEs, developing more financing facilities which do not rely excessively on using property as security, in order to more effectively cater for the SMEs' needs for capital in the long run.
    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Trade and Industry

    Clerk to the Legislative Council