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Transcript of remarks by FS on GST
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Following is the transcript
of remarks (English portion) by the Financial Secretary, Mr Henry
Tang, at a media session at the West Wing lobby, Central Government
Offices, after a meeting of the Committee on Economic Development
and Economic Cooperation with the Mainland of the Commission on
Strategic Development this afternoon (August 21):
Reporter: ... why are you insisting
on the need for GST ... Once the tax is implemented, it will be
there ...?
Financial Secretary: Regarding the
need for broadening the tax base, I am very pleased to see that
in a meeting we just finished, most of the members agreed it was
necessary to broaden our tax base and that a GST was something we
could positively consider. There were members who raised a concern
that once you had the mechanism in place, what was there to prevent
future governments from increasing it. Of course, I am sure that
if we were to be able to pass such a mechanism that there would
be a check and balance, through legislative process or otherwise.
So it is something we are quite open-minded on and are prepared
to discuss if necessary.
Reporter: How would you deal with
the opposition ...?
Financial Secretary: I think our experience
is actually not different from most of the other ones who we have
studied. In the past two decades, the economies which have introduced
GST basically faced the same kind of opposition when it was first
introduced or first launched. So I don't think Hong Kong is any
different. Over the course of time the population tend to come around
and start to understand some of the more complex and fundamental
questions we are posing to the community. These difficult questions
are not going to go away by themselves. We cannot sweep them under
the carpet and we should not sweep it under the carpet. So that's
why I am hoping we are able to discuss these problems in a constructive
and rational manner.
(Please also refer to the Chinese
portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, August 21, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:01
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