In a letter to all civil servants Tuesday, Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph W.P. Wong said the CSB will try to give each and every civil servant an opportunity to receive in-house training or partial subsidy for attending external courses.

"We are now working out a comprehensive program and will seek the provision of HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council shortly," he added. The government will also conduct in the next few months extensive consultation on a proposed Civil Service Provident Fund for new recruits so as to ensure that the final package will have the support of both civil servants and the public.

Wong expressed the hope that the new retirement benefit arrangements would help attract the best talent to join the civil service and to retain them on a long term basis.

He said: "Apart from the continued orderly implementation of the Civil Service Reform measures which have already been announced, our work in the coming year will include strengthening the integrity of civil servants, improving communication between staff and management, promoting effective and appropriate human resource management practices and fostering the public's trust and goodwill towards the civil service."

(Xinhua 01/03/2001)