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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the remarks made by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, at a media session after the passing of the Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area Bill at the Legislative Council this afternoon (April 25):
Secretary for Security :I must thank all the legislators for their effort and support in passing this Bill. I must emphasize that legislators have done a great job by passing the Bill within a short period of time. They (members of the Bills Committee) have also made their effort in visiting the Shenzhen Bay control point a few weeks ago together with the Security Panel and Transport Panel. Now the passing of the Bill is very important to our implementation of the co-location, allowing our customs and immigration officers to work side by side with their Mainland counterparts, thus facilitating the travel of visitors and movement of goods. This is important in reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a trade, tourist and logistics hub.
Reporter: Is it a precedent for other points or crossings?
Secretary for Security: This is the first attempt. I don't rule out that in future there may be other control points implementing the co-location. But I can't make any promise at this stage.
Reporter: Is this the first time? Is it ground breaking in the sense that you are going to have Hong Kong law enforcement officers working on Mainland soil…?
Secretary for Security: This is the first endeavour. This has broken new ground, I must say.
Reporter: What will be the practical implications and benefits of this…?
Secretary for Security: Now, the co-location concept as I pointed out earlier is a new sort of concept. Under the co-location arrangement, when travellers arrive at the control point, they don't have to alight the coach or the car and bring their luggage like what they are doing in Lok Ma Chau now-- pass through Hong Kong customs and immigration, and get on the coach or car again, then go to the other side, get out of the car and pass through another clearance hall. In future, they will only alight the vehicle once and then pass through the check points. This is point one. Secondly, it will also facilitate the movement of goods.
Reporter: What is the time....?
Secretary for Security: We are now making other preparations like the construction of the facilities and installation of computers. We aim at implementing the co-location arrangement within 2007.
Reporter: Do you have any estimate how much time travellers and people carrying cargoes will save ...?
Secretary for Security: A matter of up to around 10 minutes, maybe.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 20:44
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