****************************
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at a lunch at the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, hosted by Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ariel Sharon today (Monday, Jerusalem time):
Mr Tung: Ladies and gentlemen, my wife and I and our entire delegation are delighted to be here today and thank you very much for this very warm reception. We arrived here yesterday and have had an opportunity to walk around Jerusalem and to have seen a few very historical sites. As you know, most of us are here for the first time, certainly for me I'm here for the first time. I was deeply touched, deeply moved by what I saw.
I am also very impressed, in the very short time I've been here, to see not only the determination of building a strong state and to see that Israel is actually a strong and purposeful state for which 50 years of hard work has come through and for which I would like to congratulate you very much.
In Hong Kong, there are 3,500 Jewish people living there. They are very good citizens of our community. They have made major contributions to the well-being of our society and they are always very important to all of us in Hong Kong.
Sir, I am very delighted to be here. I also want to take this opportunity to say a few words about Hong Kong. On July 1st 1997 Hong Kong proudly became part of China again. Since that time, Hong Kong has been moving forward proudly and with purpose. We are moving forward under the concept of 'One Country, Two Systems', where Hong Kong people have been given a high degree of autonomy. And in the 18 months since July 1st we have been moving ahead very well in that front. Of course, Hong Kong like the other parts of Asia, has been deeply influenced and affected by the financial turmoil that has hit us and hit the rest of Asia. Fortunately for us our government has been very decisive in taking necessary action when it is important to do so. We have introduced strong budgetary measures to stimulate the economy which has been very difficult during 1998 and will probably continue to be difficult in 1999. But the budgetary measures, including stimulus, equal to 4 per cent of GDP were introduced in 1998 to get our economy going again. Much of our additional expenditure is in fact in areas of building roads, and railways, schools and in things that would be important as our economy recovers.
In the longer term too, we have been very focused in building Hong Kong into the premier international city for the whole of Asia. It is important for our future that we know what is the best direction in which we should go. And we are very fortunate to be in the heart of Asia, an economy in the Mainland of China, which is really doing very, very well. An economy which can help Hong Kong as we begin our recovery. Asia is going through a difficult time as a whole, but as I said recently in the 20 years since 1978 Asian economies as a whole have been growing by about 7.5 per cent per annum, as compared with Europe and America which is about 2 per cent. Asia's exports account for 26 per cent of world exports and Asia's imports account for 24 per cent of world imports as compared, for instance with the United States, at only 14 per cent of world imports.
Asia is going through a difficult time but we in Asia are determined to learn from the lessons from the past and we will recover too, whether it takes two years, three years, five years, recovery will be out there. And Hong Kong, of course, is in the heart of Asia, we are in the middle of Asia and we are uniquely positioned to take advantage not only of Mainland China's growing economic strength and also the ultimate recovery of the rest of Asia economically. So we would welcome very much Israeli business to come, and to see for yourself, and to take the opportunities that will be there as Asia recovers.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to see for myself first hand Israel, how Israel has become successful and also to see for myself especially, in areas of innovation of technology which has impressed almost everybody around the world. I hope during my trip, my colleagues and I will have time to study the secret of your success and there will also be opportunities of our private sector and the Israeli private sector to work together.
So ladies and gentlemen, may I once again thank you very much for the warmth of your hospitality. Can I ask you to raise your glasses for a drink: to the people of Israel, Jewish people everywhere to the people of Hong Kong and to Chinese people everywhere.(Toast).
Thank you very much.
End/Monday, February 1, 1999
NNNN