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Following is the transcript (English part) of a media stand-up by the Financial Secretary, Mr Antony Leung, at the West Wing lobby of Central Government Offices today (November 30):

Reporter: Can you repeat what you said just now in English and also reassure the public like when exactly our economy growth rate will bounce back to a positive figure?

Financial Secretary: Just now our Government Economist has revised the forecast of our GDP for this year. The revision was from a positive 1% now down to 0%. This clearly reflects the slowdown of the economy in the United States, the slowdown in Europe and also in the surrounding regions such as Singapore and Taiwan. While the immediate future is still a bit uncertain and chances are there will continue to be economic difficulties in the coming quarters, one shouldn't be too pessimistic about our future because after all, it is highly likely that the United States economy will rebound sometime next year. The Mainland economy will continue to grow at a fairly fast rate and Hong Kong, being the major gateway to China, will stand to benefit. So I hope that our citizens would not be too pessimistic about the medium to long-term future of Hong Kong. As to the question of when exactly the Hong Kong economy is going to rebound, it is rather difficult to say because a lot depends on the external economies. But with all the measures that the Chief Executive and the Government is undertaking in improving the business environment of Hong Kong, in upgrading the skills of our people, I am relatively optimistic about our medium and long-term future.

(Please also refer to the Chinese transcript)

End/Friday, November 30, 2001

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