In my Policy Address, I told people of Hong Kong that the Commission on Strategic Development is our most important advisory body and I will expand its membership substantially by inviting talent from different fields to join the body.

I am glad to announce that 153 members have accepted my invitation to join the Commission to serve until June 30, 2007. They are drawn from a broad cross-section of the community, including professionals, academics, business people, politicians and prominent labour and media personalities.

I have all along pledged that my administration would govern with "people-based" principles and I fully understand the public's aspirations to play a greater role in policy making. Now, through the expanded Commission, all sectors of the community can join the Government to explore major issues pertaining to our long-term development. The Commission will be able to gauge a wide range of community views early to help Government formulate policies.

With the enhanced role of the Commission, we will spend more time with the public in discussing preliminary policy ideas before we actually formulate a policy. Views are invited not when a policy is made but during the early stage of policy formulation. When we eventually launch a policy, we will be confident that the policy will be more readily accepted by the public.

The function of the Commission on Strategic Development is just like fermentation in the bread making process. If a baker wants to make a soft, fluffy loaf, he has to use good quality ingredients and tries all his best to bake the bread. But this is not enough. He should not miss out the importance of fermentation process - the chemical process that allows all ingredients to yield the best results.

The Commission's work is similar to the fermentation process - it listens to the community and ensures the public's views are taken into consideration at an early stage of policy formulation. This process ensures our policies to reflect what Hong Kong people want.

To improve operational efficiency, the Commission will set up four committees. The Executive Committee will focus on issues relating to the overall long-term strategies of the Hong Kong development; and the other three will focus on governance and political development, social development, and economic development.

I will personally chair the Executive Committee and the Committee on Governance and Political Development. The Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary will chair the other two committees.

The Executive Committee will look at the overall development of Hong Kong from a wider perspective, while the Committee on Governance and Political Development will mainly study issues in pursuit of excellence in governance. The Committee on Social Development and Quality of Life; and the Committee on Economic Development and Economic Cooperation with the Mainland will give advice and directions on issues of their respective subject areas.