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The following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the welcoming dinner reception for overseas guests attending airport opening ceremony today (Tuesday):

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is always a great pleasure to welcome important guests like you from overseas and the Mainland to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - particularly those who have made such valuable and highly appreciated contributions to the well-being of our community and its future prosperity. I am particularly glad this time that you are coming to join us in the celebration of the opening of our new international airport.

Those of you who have come by plane have been able to share a sentimental experience by landing at our existing airport at Kai Tak just a few days before it closes.

This weekend will mark a turning point in the history of aviation in Hong Kong. Late on Sunday night, an airliner will make the last scheduled departure from Kai Tak. Shortly after dawn on the following Monday, another airliner will land as the first scheduled arrival at our new international airport at Chek Lap Kok.

This will set the seal of success on Hong Kong's greatest engineering feat -- the creation of a new airport in less than eight years.

The opening of the new airport will also mark the successful completion of the US$20 billion Airport Core Programme -- the largest programme of infrastructural development we have ever undertaken.

That we have arrived at this great moment in such good shape is a tribute to the administrative and professional skills, the admirable teamwork and esprit de corps and the political wisdom and dexterity of all of those whose energy and sheer determination over the eight exciting years of this project ensured its ultimate success.

If we cast our minds back, it was hard to comprehend how far we have come today, and what has been achieved. We have erected the Tsing Ma Bridge - the world's longest road-cum-rail suspension bridge; we have built a 34-km long transport corridor, providing high-speed road and rail links between the airport and the urban areas; we have formed the 1,248-hectare airport island - four times larger than the existing airport at Kai Tak - out of two small islands off Lantau; and we have provided one of the world's largest and most user-friendly passenger terminals at the new airport. These are just some of the record-breaking challenges which we have proudly overcome in the past several years.

Above all, we have been able to deliver the ten projects under the umbrella of the Airport Core Programme on time and within budget. The challenge has been immense. But the strenuous efforts of all concerned; our open and non-discriminatory tender system; and the indomitable spirit of progress inherent in the people of Hong Kong have led us through all the hurdles.

In less than a week's time, Hong Kong will have a new international airport that will be able to handle 35 million passengers a year, five million more than Kai Tak has handled in a peak year, and three million tonnes of air cargo, nearly twice as much as Kai Tak can process.

This is just the beginning rather than the end of the airport development programme. The completion of the second runway at the end of the year, and the incremental expansion of facilities will ultimately bring the capacity of the airport to 87 million passengers and 9 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Today, Hong Kong has direct air service links with over 120 destinations in more than 40 countries,

served by 65 international airlines. Seven carriers operate about 360 flights per week to and from over 40 destinations in the Mainland. With the new airport in place, I am sure we will be better positioned to foster even stronger ties with the rest of the world.

Of course, our relationship runs deeper than just the aviation link. In the context of the US$20-billion Airport Core Programme, contractors from Mainland China and overseas countries like yours have won more than three-quarters by value of all the major contracts. Under our treasured "level playing field" principle in the award of contracts, this is not a surprising figure. We have upheld this principle in the past, and will continue to maintain it in future.

Over the next five years, Hong Kong will be investing another US$30 billion in new mega infrastructural projects. This underlines our unshakable commitment to continuing to build for Hong Kong's future. We look forward to the continued participation of your countries in these projects through financial investment, consultancy services, and construction work contracts.

On July 2, you will be the first group of prominent overseas visitors to set foot on the new airport island and join in our celebrations of airport opening at the passenger terminal building. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors and supporting organisations for their efforts in making the airport opening ceremony a success.

Finally, I offer my warmest welcome to you all. I hope you will make the most of your stay in Hong Kong, and take home with you warm memories of your visit. To show our appreciation and to wish you a happy stay in Hong Kong, may I now invite my colleagues on the Airport Development Steering Committee to join me on stage and propose a toast to you all.

Thank you very much.

End/Tuesday, June 30, 1998

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