Secretary for Economic Services explained

The Secretary for Economic Services (and later) was a minister position in the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for economic development in Hong Kong. The position was renamed to the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour after nearly thirty years. The new position headed the Economic Development and Labour Bureau and was created together with the introduction of Principal Officials Accountability System on 1 July 2002, by merging the positions with the labour portfolio of Secretary for Education and Manpower. After POAS was introduced all secretaries are members of the Executive Council.

The position was abolished in 2007 when the Economic Development and Labour Bureau was abolished and its functions transferred to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Transport and Housing Bureau, and the Labour and Welfare Bureau.

List of office holders

Secretaries for Economic Services, 1973–1997

width=10px		width=80px	Portrait	width=180px	Name	width=180px colspan=2	Term of office	width=120px	Governor	Ref
1		Derek Jones 鍾信	November 1973	September 1976	Sir Murray MacLehose
2		David Jeaffreson 謝法新	September 1976	September 1982
Sir Edward Youde
	3		Piers Jacobs 翟克誠	September 1982	12 January 1986	^[1]
	4		John Francis Yaxley 易誠禮	27 January 1986	8 March 1987	^[2] ^[3]
5		Anson Chan 陳方安生	23 March 1987	April 1993	Sir David Wilson	^[4]
Chris Patten
	6		Gordon Siu 蕭炯柱	1993	1996
	7		Stephen Ip 葉澍堃	June 1996	30 June 1997

Secretaries for Economic Services, 1997–2002

width=10px		width=80px	Portrait	width=180px	Name	width=180px colspan=2	Term of office	width=80px	Duration	width=120px	Chief Executive	Term	Ref
bgcolor= align=center	1		Stephen Ip Shu-kwan 葉澍堃	1 July 1997	30 June 2000		Tung Chee-hwa
bgcolor= align=center	2		Sandra Birch Lee Suk-yee 李淑儀	1 July 2000	30 June 2002

Secretaries for Economic Development and Labour, 2002–2007

width=10px		width=80px	Portrait	width=180px	Name	width=180px colspan=2	Term of office	width=80px	Duration	width=120px	Chief Executive	Term	Ref
1		Stephen Ip Shu-kwan 葉澍堃	1 July 2002	30 June 2007		Tung Chee-hwa
Donald Tsang

Economic and labour affairs were handled by, respectively, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and Secretary for Labour and Welfare after 2007.

Notes and References

1. G.N. 178 of 1986 . Hong Kong Government Gazette . 129. 258, 313.
2. G.N. 348 of 1986 . Hong Kong Government Gazette . 31 January 1986 . 129. 486.
3. G.N. 798 of 1987 . Hong Kong Government Gazette . 13 March 1987 . 130. 1191, 1233.
4. G.N. 955 of 1987 . Hong Kong Government Gazette . 10 March 1989 . 132. 1373, 1480.