HK Chief Executive delivers maiden policy address, focusing on housing

Key Words:HK Chief Executive；Hong Kong Special Administrative Region；HKSAR；CY Leung；city government's policy direction in 2013

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HONG KONG, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive CY Leung delivered his first policy address on Wednesday morning at the Legislative Council here, outlining the city government's policy direction in 2013.

"My team and I have taken expeditious actions to address the most pressing needs of the community," Leung said in the annual policy address which was live broadcast for Hong Kong's 7.1 million people.

The policy address, entitled "Seek change, maintain stability, serve the people with pragmatism", laid out the government's major governance principles, policies and initiatives.

By emphasizing the relationship between pursuing people's livelihood and the economic development, Leung said that "we promote economic development for the purpose of improving people's livelihood, and that in turn will provide a more stable business environment."

"In our drive to improve people's livelihood, we must take timely actions to address the pressing needs of the community. Speedy actions are required on both these fronts," he continued.

Leung summarized that on the fronts of economy, housing and people's livelihood, the government has set up task forces, introduced new measures and undertaken a variety of initiatives to help the needed.

"These examples demonstrate the determination of the current- term Government, with the support of our civil servants, to meet public aspirations as promptly as possible," he said.

According to Leung, the Hong Kong government must be " appropriately proactive" to promote economic development. The government should refrain from intervention when the market is functioning efficiently, but the government must take appropriate action to address the problem in cases of market failure.