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Speech by the Chief Executive

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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at a dinner reception in honour of the Guangdong Provincial Government's Representatives to the Hong Kong and Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference in the Government House today (July 24):

Vice Governor Ou Guangyuan, Deputy Director Chen Zuoer, Mayor Yu Youjun and friends attending the Conference,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the 4th meeting of the Hong Kong and Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference.

We have just witnessed with great joy Beijing's successful bid of the right to host Olympic Games. We are also pleased to see China's imminent accession to WTO. Both of these developments are of paramount importance to us. On one hand, they testify that the progress and development of our country have won world-wide recognition. On the other hand, they signify that we will be presented with more opportunities and facing stronger competition and greater challenges in future. Hong Kong and Guangdong have long been closely related. Given the new global developments, including globalisation and the growing importance of information technology and knowledge in the world economy, it becomes all the more important for Hong Kong and Guangdong to foster closer and better cooperation.

On my last visit to Guangzhou, I had a very good discussion with Secretary LI Changcun and Governor LU Ruihua about the cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong. We all agreed that Hong Kong is a sophisticated international financial centre, enjoying wide connection with the global market and possessing a large pool of talents in market development and other disciplines. We also agreed that Guangdong Province, particularly the Pearl River Delta, is one of the most rapidly developing areas in the world. The Pearl River Delta provides a large market which Hong Kong lacks. It has also developed into a competitive and export-oriented economy over the past two decades. Both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have also become developed and modernised cities. With these advantages, there is no doubt that a closer partnership between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta as well as the entire Guangdong Province will create a promising future for us. Such cooperation will not only create economic wonders for the whole region but also benefit people on both sides by creating more job opportunities and upgrading the standard of living for our people. It will also help us to better contribute to our country as a whole. We must therefore fully capitalise on each other's strengths. We must work earnestly together to map out a blueprint for our cooperation and endeavour to establish a new synergy under the principle of 'One Country, Two Systems'.

To strengthen cooperation between Hong Kong and the Guangdong Province is a major task, involving a wide range of issues. Specifically, for example, we have to identify effective measures to facilitate passenger flow across the boundary as soon as possible. Some issues are complex in scope. They include the coordination between Hong Kong and Guangdong on infrastructural projects such as airports, railways, roads, ports; the establishment of regional logistic facilities; the promotion of greater involvement of Hong Kong businessmen in the Mainland market; and the development of tourism. It will be unrealistic to expect that we could find all the answers and solutions in just one or two meetings. Nevertheless, we will succeed in exploring new areas for cooperation and identifying new ways to address problems as long as we work together for the mutual benefits of Hong Kong and Guangdong. I am sure together we will be able to write a successful chapter, making the Joint Conference an effective channel for cooperation.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the meeting a great success. Thank you.

End/Tuesday, July 24, 2001

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