When we talk about public governance, we should focus not only on the government bureaus and departments, but also on different statutory bodies such as the Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong Productivity Centre and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

In the past we have heard from news reports and from governmental audit reports that these statuary bodies are under heavy criticism. Their governance must be improved.

Common problems with public bodies are (1) The Board of Directors of these statutory bodies does not always exercise its supervisory role; (2) Abuse of public funds, such as the Tourism Board's issuing a large number of promotional materials which were useless; (3) Lack of information being disclosed to the public, making it difficult to monitor these public bodies and institutions; (4) Waste of resources.

In response to these problems, we recommend the following:

(1) The government should strengthen public sectors accountability and transparency.

(2) In order to avoid the misuse of public funds, the relevant departments and the Public Accounts Committee should follow up promptly in order to determine whether public money is used properly. They should adopt an "every cent counts" attitude.

(3) Follow the provisions set out for the public sector by foreign governments, requiring the release of detailed accounts on the Internet so the public may actively monitor expenditures. Failing this the abuse of public funds by the public sector will continue to be condoned.

(4) Uniform standards should be set for basic expenses, such as business expenses and pay determination.

(5) Statutory bodies could follow the example of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and attend Legislative Council meetings on a regular basis to report progress and answer questions.

The government should take up the responsibility to make sure that these statutory bodies are governed in an acceptable way.

The author is Chairman of the Hong Kong Public Governance Association and Council Member of the Central and Western District.

(HK Edition 06/25/2010 page2)