Good progress: Chief Secretary Henry Tang speaks at the letter-of-intent signing ceremony on Hong Kong's third-stage Sichuan reconstruction support work.

Hong Kong has signed a letter of intent for the city's third-stage work in support of Sichuan's restoration and reconstruction. The financial commitment for the 32 third-stage projects is $2.859 billion.

Chief Secretary Henry Tang and Sichuan Executive Vice-Governor Wei Hong witnessed the signing between the two governments in Chengdu today. They also exchanged signed copies of the project co-operation arrangement for the Deyang Aba Highway Mianzhu to Mao County Section.

Taking the reconstruction support work's first and second stages together, the overall financial commitment for the 152 projects under the three stages is almost $9 billion. Adding the Jockey Club's $1 billion commitment, Hong Kong's $10 billion overall objective has been met.

The third-stage 32 projects will cover one highway, and six medical and health projects, plus 25 county-level rehabilitation service centres for the disabled.

The key project is the Mian Mao Highway which will not only involve rebuilding the seriously damaged road but also provide a direct link between the severely affected areas of Deyang Municipality and Aba Prefecture. The target beneficiaries include 190,000 residents and mine workers.

The six medical and health projects comprise one remote medical network platform and five hospitals and healthcare centres in Ya On and Mianyang municipalities. The proposal will help provide better services to patients and facilitate the training of medical and health personnel.

The 25 disabled rehabilitation centres, together with seven integrated social services centres with rehabilitation facilities and two rehabilitation services centres for the disabled under the first and second stages, as well as five other centres supported by other provinces, will form a comprehensive network covering all 39 seriously affected areas.

Mr Tang told reporters an independent consultant will be appointed to boost the monitoring of Hong Kong's projects to ensure quality and quantity targets are met.

Before the signing ceremony Mr Tang and Mr Wei discussed ways to expedite the project implementation while meeting the required quality standards, and to promote bilateral economic co-operation to help develop the quake-affected area's economy.