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The following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the Opening Ceremony of ITU TELECOM Asia 2000 today (December 3):
Secretary-General Utsumi, Vice Premier Wu, Ministers, Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to welcome so many leaders from the telecommunications sectors to Hong Kong for this prestigious international event, ITU TELECOM Asia 2000. We are particularly honoured that this is not only the first time such an event is being hosted in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, it is also the first time in the People's Republic of China. I hope that all of you will find time from your busy schedule to enjoy the sights and sounds of our city and witness for yourselves that the vibrancy, dynamism and vigour of Hong Kong are as obvious as ever. You will also find the pride of our citizens in Hong Kong's return to China and the confirmation that "One Country, Two System" is no longer a concept but an everyday reality in Hong Kong.
In the past decade, we have witnessed and experienced remarkable advances in information technology. The next decade promises even greater changes at a greater pace. This IT revolution has created immense challenges as well as opportunities for every economy in the world. The ITU conference gives us a very valuable opportunity to share our vision, exchange experience and promote co-operation between governments, and between governments and businesses, to overcome the challenges and exploit the opportunities to create a better world for all of us.
In Hong Kong, we place great emphasis on promoting advances in information technology to enhance our efficiency and productivity, sustain our economic growth and generally improve the quality of life of our people.
To make Hong Kong a leader in the IT world, we issued in 1998 a policy framework, entitled 'Digital 21' which sets out our vision and initiatives. The key initiatives include establishing a common software interface for secure electronic transactions, nurturing a culture that stimulates creativity, and empowering our people with the know-how to use IT. Beginning October this year, Government launched the Electronic Service Delivery scheme to provide Government services online to the community.
The other initiatives in this direction are the efforts to lower the cost of telecommunications through deregulation and the promotion of competition, and the development of a high capacity infrastructure. Through these efforts, we have created a dynamic telecommunications market. Our mobile phone penetration rate, at 71%, is the highest in the world after Scandinavia. The termination of the monopoly on external telecommunications market in 1999 has brought substantial benefits to the consumers. The opening up of our external facilities market in January this year has already attracted over 30 operators and 1.2 billion US dollars investment in the provision of cables and satellites, expanding our external connectivity by tenfold in the next three years. Our deregulation policy has served us well. Indeed, now Hong Kong has one of the most advanced and sophisticated telecommunications infrastructures in the world with broadband connection reaching 100% of commercial buildings and 90% of all our homes.
Government initiatives in making Hong Kong a leader in the IT world have produced very encouraging results. Over the last year or so, we have seen a dramatic change in culture, with the mushrooming of IT startups, and individuals and companies embracing IT in their daily life and in doing business. Half of all Hong Kong households have personal computers and one-third of our population are Internet users. E-commerce in Hong Kong is beginning to flourish and is expected to grow rapidly in the next several years.
Distinguished guests, China's GDP will reach one trillion US dollars this year, making it the 7th largest economy in the world. With the rapidly expanding economy and improvement in standard of living of the population, China's telecommunications market is growing by leaps and bounds. Indeed, through sound macro telecommunication policies and massive investment in infrastructure and services, the number of mobile and fixed line telephone users in China has reached 200 million, making China's telecom network the second largest in the world after the United States. With the very large population and expanding economy, China's telecom market is expected to grow much faster than anywhere else in the world. It is a market everyone is paying attention to . Hong Kong with our ideal location and excellent business environment will stand to benefit tremendously from this process.
Distinguished guests, the harnessing of the opportunities brought by the IT revolution to bring prosperity and a better quality of life for all is a global effort. No country or economy can do it alone. We must promote IT development and share the benefits through collaboration. ITU TELECOM Asia 2000 is a most opportune occasion for us to promote this collaboration.
I wish the ITU every success with this important exhibition and forum. Once again, I welcome all our distinguished guests and visitors and on behalf of the Central Government also welcome all of you for being in Hong Kong. I hope that you have a productive and enjoyable time here in Hong Kong.
Thank you very much.
End/Sunday, December 3, 2000
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