Press Release

 

 

Transcript of CE's five-minute message on Policy Address

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Following is the transcript of a five-minute message on TV and radio by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, about his Policy Address today (October 11):

Good evening, fellow citizens! I delivered this year's Policy Address to the new LegCo this afternoon, and some of you may have seen or heard it through the media already. Let me tell you that it is a Policy Address that deals with issues really, really close to my heart. It is an Address that, as in the past three years, heeds the people's voices and aspirations, on issues that concern themselves, their sons and daughters and their parents. It answers queries and criticisms, and, in a year still not that distant from the Asian Financial Turmoil, responds to the entreatments for help from the less fortunate among us. It reaffirms beliefs, incorporates useful new thinking, points to opportunities and maps out strategic moves. It is a document of hope.

The three main issues I dwelled on in this Policy Address are: education, poverty and governance.

I have accepted the final recommendations of the Education Commission in full. I have always thought that our education system, however well it has served us in the past, has become inadequate when measured against the demands of a Knowledge Economy and forces of global competition. The proposed reforms in the EC Report, when fully implemented, will go a long way towards meeting those demands. It will help our young people succeed in life and find greater fulfilment, more so than our own generation has ever managed to. The Government will commit ample resources to carry out the reforms and initiatives, which will allow, among other things, essentially all junior secondary graduates to continue to study, and 60% of senior secondary graduates to go on to tertiary education, with appropriate subsidies in both cases. This will put us on a par with most other advanced countries in terms of providing educational opportunities for the young. The package, when fully implemented, will require an additional recurrent expenditure of $2 billion a year. For this considerable sum invested in human capital, I am sure that every dollar will bear returns for our citizens many times more.

I have also committed serious government effort to deal with poverty, a long-standing issue much exacerbated by the Asian Financial Turmoil and the ongoing process of economic restructuring. While I prescribe no magical cure, and cannot promise to bring immediate relief to all, I do make sure that the SAR Government will provide necessary help for the very poor and needy. The government will help them to help themselves, create more job opportunities and design programmes to address special and acute needs. Training and retraining programmes will be vastly expanded and improved. By speeding up many services and programmes to meet community needs, 15,000 new jobs will be created, some of them time-limited and others long-term. In the next two years, aside from normal expansion of Government services, spending on these initiatives will exceed $2.7 billion. Again, the sum is quite substantial, but every dollar spent will bring much help for pains, joy to many families and smiles on many faces. For many, it will also mean a headstart to a productive working life.

I also discussed in depth a number of governance issues that have been subjects of spirited debates. Our experience in the three years since reunification fully demonstrates that the executive authorities, legislature and judiciary of the SAR are able to function effectively under the Basic Law. The rights of Hong Kong people have been fully protected. In seeking to improve our governance, the priorities are to enhance the accountability of the senior echelon of the executive authorities, to continue to establish an effective and constructive executive-legislature relationship and to encourage greater community participation in public affairs. We will continue to act according to the Basic Law and the actual situation in the Hong Kong SAR to make gradual and orderly progress in furthering Hong Kong's constitutional developments.

My fellow citizens, in spite of all the ups and downs, this year has been a good year. Our economic recovery is robust. Unemployment has been going down. While the New Economy has sent us warning signals, we the people of Hong Kong are rising to the occasion. Now all of us know the importance of innovation and technology, and the role of knowledge in the creation of wealth. All of us are now aware of the importance of sustainable development as the key to long-term welfare. We are working hard to improve our environment, and will do a lot to improve our education system. We have put into place a number of other crucial reforms, most of which are beginning to bear fruit. We are on a good start for the new Millennium. More, we are blessed with opportunities. China, our mother country, will soon join the WTO. Our China advantage will bring us immense opportunities.

As I said earlier, we have seen ups and downs; some of the problems revealed are serious and worth the best of our efforts to tackle. This Policy Address brings solutions to the problems.

This year, we have worked diligently together and covered much ground. Looking forward, there is a bright future and there is hope. What is needed to turn challenges and opportunities into success? The answer is simple: your support. We share common goals, and so it is only fitting that we serve the community together. So please, join me and make things happen. Join me to build a great Hong Kong! Thank you.

End/Wednesday, October 11, 2000

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