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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the media stand-up session given by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Donald Tsang, after a luncheon address in New York city today (September 17, New York time):
Chief Secretary: Well, good afternoon. I arrived here very late last night and I start my official duties today. I have said a piece over lunch in which you are familiar with, I do not wish to repeat my message.
Earlier this morning I met with a number of financial leaders in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And I also met the principals of all the leading credit rating agencies in New York. I put across the message that Hong Kong has a very strong external sector, particularly our total reserves. Our foreign exchange reserves position is one of the highest in the world. Our total external assets represent 210% of our GDP. I also mentioned about the surplus in our current account, the robust trade performance of Hong Kong and the very healthy inward domestic investment in Hong Kong, which is the second largest in Asia, after China. All the financial indicators suggest that Hong Kong's credit rating should be in the double A, rather than the single A, that has been currently given to Hong Kong. That was a very useful exchange. We are going to have more meetings here and then we are going to Washington DC tonight.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
End/Thursday, September 18, 2003
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