Sustainable policy: Council for Sustainable Development's Strategy Sub-committee Chairman Otto Poon says the consensus reached at the Strategy Summit helps the council formulate its recommendations.

The core components of a sustainable population policy for Hong Kong include quality of life, declining fertility rate, manpower issues and an ageing population, according to more than 3,000 views gauged from the four-month consultation on population policy.

More than 100 participants from the business, school, social service, district community and youth sectors partook in the Council for Sustainable Development's Strategy Summit today, which aims to come up with fundamental principles based on the views garnered.

They considered that endeavours could be made on the living and working environment to upgrade the quality of life, including the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, family-friendly measures and the enhancement of environmental protection and urban planning. 

Facing a declining fertility rate, they suggested the Government implement measures conducive to child bearing and rearing, and reinforce the importance of family functions and support.

On manpower issues, they considered that the training, retraining and continuing education of the local workforce should be enhanced, and suitable talent should be admitted to Hong Kong. Facing an ageing society, there were views that the healthy and active ageing should be promoted, and the accessibility needs of the elderly should be catered for in the built environment.

The council will build on participants' consensus to prepare its report and put forward its recommendations to the Government in the first half of 2007.