In Brief
New platform to gather cultural district opinions
The University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme has launched a new platform to gather the public's views on the West Kowloon Cultural District project and the waterfront. People wanting to express their views can register with the programme to become members. The programme will carry out three types of opinion-gathering exercises: open-ended opinions and an online survey of members, and a sample survey of the public. The exercise is sponsored by the lobby group Hong Kong Alternatives, the Society for Protection of the Harbour and Designing Hong Kong Harbour District.
March retail sales value shows 3.5pc year-on-year rise
The value of retail sales in March increased by 3.5 per cent over the same month a year ago, with a provisional estimate of HK$18.9 billion, the Census and Statistics Department said. The revised estimate of the value of retail sales in February, at HK$20.8 billion, was an increase of 28.6 per cent over February 2006, while the volume of retail sales increased by 25.2 per cent on February last year. The figures follow a fall of 1.5 per cent in value, or 4.9 per cent in volume, in January. For the first quarter of this year, total retail sales increased by 9.4 per cent in value, or 6.6 per cent in volume, over the same period last year. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Retail Management Association said the number of visitors so far showed a slight drop from last year for the Labour Day 'golden week' following scares over counterfeit goods. It also said tourism-related retail sales were down about 10 per cent.
Former Xinhua official highlights city successes
Former Xinhua vice-director Zhang Junsheng said there had been a successful implementation of 'one country, two systems', Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong, and a high degree of autonomy in the 10 years since the handover. He also said the city had experienced many hardships in this time but was now seeing good economic and social developments because of efforts made by the public to tackle hardships. He also said he believed that Hong Kong would have a brighter future.
