**********
Following is the speech (translation) made by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the opening ceremony of Youth Summit today (September 14):
Dr. Choi, distinguished guests, young friends,
Dr. Choi has just delivered a concise and touching speech. Assuming the chairmanship of the Commission on Youth, he has worked hard to push forward with our youth work, making new achievements every year. I hope that our young friends are aware that the SAR Government, i.e. I myself, all Bureaux Directors and Permanent Secretaries pay much regard to our young generation. My young friends, you are the future of Hong Kong. Not doing a good job on our young people, how could we have a future? It gives me great pleasure to attend this Youth Summit today to exchange our views on youth development.
In last year's Youth Summit, I was deeply encouraged by the active participation and the sense of commitment shown by the parents and representatives from our education, social services and business sectors towards the all-round development of the young generation. Impressed by the pledges that our young participants made towards themselves, their families and the community, we have much confidence in our young generation. And, my colleagues and I have incorporated a lot of useful proposals raised there to formulate our youth policies.
Hong Kong is facing the challenge brought by the combined impact of globalisation, advances in information technology and rapid development in Mainland cities. To sustain economic growth and maintain our competitiveness, it is imperative for our economy to undergo structural changes. Economic restructuring, as experienced in foreign countries, will take time, as long as some years. The Government is implementing a good series of initiatives to spur economic growth, to provide a more business-friendly environment, and to capitalize on the rapid economic development of the country to explore new scope of development for all sectors, to create as many opportunities as we can for the people of Hong Kong.
Young people are assets of the community and represent our future. To maintain our competitiveness and sustain our development, the Government is committed to providing a wide range of opportunities and options for the youth, enabling them to develop their potentials to the full according to their abilities and interests. We will promote a general mood of life-long learning and encourage our young people to strive for the best to meet the challenges of the ever-changing world.
I understand very well that young people are facing difficulties in pursing further studies and seeking jobs under the prevailing high and sustained unemployment rate as part of economic restructuring. The Government is very concerned about their difficult situation. I have invited Dr. Choi's Commission, policy bureaux and people from all sectors to come up with practical plans to provide our young people, who are less adaptable to conventional educational paths, with pluralistic options in terms of training and employment opportunities to develop their talents in sports, music, art performance and others. No matter how difficult the challenge will be, my young friends, your parents, the whole community and the Government will stand by you to provide the best assistance as we can. But above all, you must upkeep your spirit and confidence and never give up hopes.
The theme of last year's Youth Summit was "All-round Development for the New Generation". In response to your valuable views raised there, my colleagues and I have strengthened our youth development work over the year by implementing the following initiatives:
* Throwing in more investment in education and pushing forward with our education reform to encourage all-round development, helping our students to develop "the readiness to learn, an adeptness in communication, a sense of responsibility and a flair for innovation";
* Launching the Continuing Education Fund in June this year to subsidize adults (aged 18 or above) with learning aspirations to pursue continuing education and training courses, with a view to boosting our strength, improving our capability in adding value to ourselves and expanding the scope of self-development;
* Researching into and developing parent education to strengthen the function of family in nurturing the youth, stressing its role as the foundation of all-round development of the youth;
* Enhancing outreaching and counselling service for youth at risk and strengthening social support to families and young people so as to create a healthy environment for the youth to develop their potentials to the full and attain all-round development;
* Establishing the "Community Investment and Inclusion Fund" to encourage mutual concern and assistance in the community. The objectives of the Fund are to promote community participation, enhance social cohesion and provide assistance to the people in need, in particular the young people.
Our topic today is 'Cultural Identity - Development and Commitment'. 'Cultural Identity' is something really worth pondering. Starting from a small fishing village centuries ago, Hong Kong has established a profound Chinese heritage with people migrating here from different parts of China. The colonial rule over the past century, on the other hand, rendered it an exposure to the western culture, making Hong Kong now a pluralistic world city and a meeting point of Chinese and western cultures. Following our reunification in 1997 to become the first special administrative region of China after a century's separation with the motherland, we, people of Hong Kong, and our young people in particular, should affirm our Chinese identity and get a better understanding of the country and the root of our heritage. To overcome challenges brought about by globalisation, our young people should have a cosmopolitan outlook. How to enable our young generation 'to have a foothold in Hong Kong, to have the whole country in mind and the whole world in view' is indeed something we should give deep thought to. Resilience and creativity are essential qualities of culture and are ingredients alloyed in the character of Hong Kong people. We must do our outmost to maintain and nurture these qualities in our youth culture. In face of serious challenges during economic restructuring, strengthening the young people's confidence is of particular importance. How to establish a cultural identity among our young generation and how to nurture qualities in our youth culture, I believe, is one of the major issues to be discussed today.
All policy bureaux and departments concerned attach great importance to views of our young people. Your views are absolutely useful to the Government in formulating policies that are targeted to respond to your needs. The Commission's three forums in July and August and today's Summit provide a good channel for the Government to listen to views of our young people and others, and are proved to be effective in encouraging communication and dialogue with our young people. I call on you here, our young people in particular, to voice out your views as actively and freely as you can. I can assure you we will give our good ears and serious consideration to your views and proposals.
Nurturing the young generation is a shared responsibility of the community. Today's Summit brings together representatives of government departments and those from our education, social services, medical, cultural services and business sectors, and of course our young people and parents. I hope each and every one of you can come forward to actively participate in the discussions and share with us your views. Let's work together to make a brighter future for our young generation.
Thank you.
End/Saturday, September 14, 2002
NNNN
