A council for sustainable development held its first forum Saturday to engage the public and gather feedback on Hong Kong's sustainable development strategy.

At the end of the consultation period on Nov. 12, the council will compile a report for submission to the government, outlining its recommendations with regard to a sustainable development strategy, said the council's vice-chairman Edgar Cheng at the forum.

Cheng said that in taking forward the public engagement exercise, the council undertook to involve a wide cross-section of stakeholders in the community, so as to enable it to fulfill its role as an advisory council to the government on sustainable development.

The "Information and Response (IR) document" represents the outcome of discussions by groups of stakeholders invited by the council to help engage the community in a discussion of key issues relating to Hong Kong's sustainable development.

"Our aim is to build a genuine partnership with the community," said Cheng.

The 170 participants came from diverse backgrounds, including members of the District Councils, non-government organizations, academic institutions, professional bodies, stakeholder groups as well as representatives from government departments.

Source: Xinhua