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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Donald Tsang, to the press today (June 24) at the Central Government Offices, Main Wing, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong:
This is an historic day for Hong Kong. The announcement of the
Chief Executive's Accountability Team marks a watershed in the evolution of governance of the SAR.
It is an important day for me personally. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the people of Hong Kong as Chief Secretary for Administration. I am mindful that this is the third time in the last five years I have been nominated by Mr Tung and appointed by the Central People's Government to senior government posts. I commit myself to repaying their trust in me.
I do not underestimate the task ahead of us. These momentous changes in government come at a time when we are facing one of our most challenging periods of economic development. We are undergoing a difficult and painful restructuring that has brought unemployment, hardship and anxiety to many in our community. I believe that an important task of the second term administration is to tackle these problems head-on and to provide the policies and leadership required to prevail over them. We need to rekindle the spirit of progress and inventiveness that has driven Hong Kong's remarkable success.
Hong Kong people share the common ideal of progress, freedom, stability, opportunity and high quality. We will continue to safeguard and promote the high degree of autonomy entrenched by the success of the "One country, two systems ". We aspire to carry our success as an international financial centre to our future generations, and to turn the hearts and minds of our children towards a quest for knowledge and a concern for civility.
I pledge to work and lead by these values and aspirations. I am confident that these ideals will continue to unite Hong Kong people and take us to a higher level of economic success. We will leverage these values and our strengths as Asia's World City, the leading financial centre serving the Mainland of China and as the commercial, logistics and marketing dynamo of the Pearl River Delta.
We are about to open a new chapter in our history. I ask everyone in Hong Kong to play a role in it. We are all together as partner to make Hong Kong great. And I pledge to work wholeheartedly to ensure that it is yet another chapter in the Hong Kong success story.
End/Monday, June 24, 2002
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