Policy Address
IV. Improving People’s Livelihood
30. The 152 new initiatives to improve people’s livelihood announced in my last two Policy Addresses have largely been completed or are progressing on schedule. Recurrent spending on welfare and healthcare has increased by 29% in the past two years, amounting to $164.9 billion in the 2019–20 estimates. With limited public resources, our work to improve people’s livelihood is not just a demand and supply question, it is also an issue of resource allocation that our society must face. To enable more effective and efficient use of public resources, I have advocated cross-sector and cross-profession collaboration as well as public-private partnership, adhering to the principles of pro-child, pro-family, pro-work, respecting the choices of beneficiaries and embracing public health. The initiatives to improve people’s livelihood introduced this year are in line with these principles. I would like to highlight a few of these here.
