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Following is the transcript of the media session by the Financial Secretary, Mr Antony Leung, after attending the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Jewellery and Watch Fair and the Asia's Fashion Jewellery and Accessories Fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this morning (June 19):
Financial Secretary: This is the first trade fair after the containment of SARS in Hong Kong. I am pleased to be here and we are pleased that many overseas buyers and exhibitors are here today. I understand that the number of exhibitors is actually comparable to past years. But the important thing is that the economic activity in Hong Kong is gradually on the rise, and with exhibitions like this, we will see more overseas visitors coming back to Hong Kong.
As a matter of fact, I talked to some representatives from the airlines this morning and they reported a steady increase in the number of visitors coming to Hong Kong and an increase in the traffic load of the airlines. As I said, we are in the relaunching phase and will be working with various agencies including the Trade Development Council and the Hong Kong Tourism Board to further promote tourism as well as other businesses in Hong Kong. And hopefully with all these measures the economy will continue to revive and grow. Hopefully towards the end of the year we will see a lot more overseas visitors coming to Hong Kong, which coupled with the increase in local consumption and with the very steady increase in exports, the economy will resume the growth that we have seen before SARS.
Question: Are you planning any additional measures to boost the property market?
Financial Secretary: As Michael (Michael Suen, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands) has indicated, the Government is looking at various issues and we have taken note of the developments in the property market. But before we announce anything, I think it is premature to speculate whether the Government is going to do anything.
Question: About unemployment, 8.3 % is a bit high. Do you think the unemployment rate may turn out to be a double-digit figure? The second question is about the number of people turning out at the fair. Do you think the number of people coming here is still affected by SARS and will it affect other international fairs in the future?
Financial Secretary: This is really the first international fair after the containment of SARS and we are pleased to see it happening. With SARS being contained, not just in Hong Kong but in the surrounding regions, I am quite confident that the number of fairs and the people visiting fairs will be on the rise. That is why we hope that by the end of the year we will see most of the economic activities going back to the levels that we have seen before SARS.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
End/Thursday, June 19, 2003
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