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The following is a transcript (English portion) of the press conference by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after today's (Monday) APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand.
Mr Tung: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. This is the 10th anniversary of the APEC meeting and I think that in 10 years of very hard work, we have been able to lay down a foundation for the beginning of a new millennium. We now know each other all a whole lot better and we are working very well together. We took this opportunity to review the causes and consequences of the financial turmoil that hit us in 1997. Most of the communities in Asia are now recovering at different paces from the financial turmoil. We all agreed the continued need to improve the domestic financial systems, banking systems, regulatory systems and at the same time, the importance to push ahead with the reform of the international financial architecture and in these areas we should not relax at all, despite the fact that the economies are now turning around.
We also emphasised our determination to move ahead with the Bogor Declaration which stated that by year 2010 the developed communities will have no more tariffs and the developing communities will have no more tariffs by the year 2020.
And finally we all pledged to work very hard to make sure of the success of the new round of the WTO discussions which are due to start very soon, probably before the end of this year. So all in all, it's been a very good and fruitful meeting.
Question (Cliff Bale, RTHK): You have probably heard about Beijing revoking the visa for Margaret Ng before she went up to attend a law conference in Beijing. I'd like to ask you for your reaction to this, whether you are concerned about this, and what you are doing about this?
Mr Tung: I have obviously heard about this, and I have only heard about it now. I think my initial comment would be this: Under 'One Country, Two Systems' the entry and exit arrangement is solely, of course, a decision for the Central Government. At this moment, I would like to leave the answer as it is. Thank you.
Question (Asia Pacific Economic News, Wellington): Reform of the international financial architecture. Why do you stress the urgency and what is your prescription and what are the key points by which we can judge the progress towards that reform?
Mr Tung: I think the reform of the international [financial] architecture will take many, many minutes to explain to you. But I think basically there is a sense of urgency because I think huge damage was done in the financial turmoil which began in Thailand on July 2, 1997. What we want to be sure of is that what happened then, the lessons we have learnt, we want to be sure it will not happen again. And of course, we can all say, 'Well, the economies are recovering now. Never mind, the hedge funds seem to be very quiet now and things seem to be alright'. But that would be the worst attitude to take. It has to be a very broad-based approach. There is now a lot of international leadership on this issue and we are hopeful that over the course of the next year, we will see some really tangible evidence that things are beginning to happen.
Question (Market News, Hong Kong): We have recently seen a massive jump in Hong Kong's GDP numbers in the second quarter. What was the increase based on and do you think that would be sustainable going into the future? And also, when do you think that the deflation situation will improve in Hong Kong?
Mr Tung: Well, let me tell you this, that we are of course pleased to note that the economy has at last shown signs of recovery and of course, the recovery is basically led by consumer spending, by more tourist arrivals, by increased volume of exports. So there are some good signs there. I'm pretty confident that the Financial Secretary's original forecast of achieving positive GDP growth of 0.5 per cent for 1999 can be achieved. I'm pretty confident of that. I think the worst is now behind us. The recovery is now coming. The speed of the recovery will depend on a whole lot of issues, both on what we are doing ourselves as well as what's happening around us. I think all the things we have been doing as a government over the past two years, including tax and revenue concessions to the tune of $40 billion, are now all showing signs that they are helping the economy. On the other hand, the recovery of Japan is certainly very helpful to us. The recovery of other parts of Asia is also very helpful to us. So I would like to be cautiously optimistic.
What was your second question?
Question (Market News): About deflation, when do you think prices will be stabilising?
Mr Tung: Yes, well the adjustment was necessary because consumer spending was very weak and as the economy begins to pick up then consumer spending will begin to increase and I would think you would see a greater degree of price stability. It's difficult to say precisely at this moment when this will happen.
Question (Bridge News, Shanghai Bureau): Lately there seems to be a divergence of opinion about the property market in Hong Kong and whether it's beginning to recover. I was just wondering if you think its beginning to recover and if not, when do you think that might happen?
Mr Tung: Well, it all depends on your definition of recovery. Let me tell you what we are concerned about. We don't want to see property prices going up and down like a yo-yo. We don't want to see property prices shooting up through the sky. We don't want to see property prices falling down like a tonne of rock. What we want to see is a stable property price. And we also want to make sure, or hope to make sure at least, that in the long term, investment in property is a good investment. So that is our policy - stable property prices are very important for Hong Kong's long-term future.
Chief Executive's transcript in Auckland (Chinese part)
End/Monday, September 13, 1999
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