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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the opening ceremony of the International Housing Conference 2004 this morning (February 2):
Michael, Dr Renaud, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to extend my warm welcome to all of you to the International Housing Conference 2004. Particularly, I wish those of you who have travelled from far away an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong. 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of public housing development in Hong Kong and this International Housing Conference is the highlight of the many commemorative activities.
As you know, Hong Kong has a population of some 6.8 million people, living within a small geographical area of about 1,100 square kilometres. Out of this small area, only 20% is for development and the rest has been earmarked as country parks or is unsuitable for housing development. So our people have to be housed in even smaller geographical areas. This means Hong Kong has an overall density of about 6,200 people for every square kilometre of land, one of the highest densities in the world. So you can see housing development is a huge challenge for our planners, architects and engineers.
After the Second World War, we had a huge influx of population as well as rapid development of our economy. These factors, together with a limited supply of land, made our housing prices much higher than most other places, so providing subsidised public housing to those people in need has been and continues to be an important task of the Hong Kong Government. Indeed today, out of the over two million households in Hong Kong, about half are living in subsidised public housing.
Since 1973, the Government's effort in providing subsidised public housing has been spearheaded by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who have contributed their precious time and efforts to the work of the authority. Thanks to your efforts, a vast number of needy people now live in subsidised public housing.
In the very early days of providing subsidised public housing, we provided very basic accommodation to those who were homeless or living in substandard conditions. As time passed by, we started to build more well-designed and self-contained housing estates to meet the needs and rising aspirations of the community.
Since July 1, 1997, the HKSAR Government had made great efforts in realising our goals in the provision of subsidised public housing. We have cleared all the temporary housing areas and cottage areas so that the number of Hong Kong people who live in substandard or overcrowded accommodation now stands at an all-time low. The number of eligible families who are waiting to be housed in public rental units has declined from 150,000 in 1997 to around 90,000 today. During the same period, the average waiting time has fallen from over six years to just over two.
Our efforts in providing subsidised public housing are recognised internationally. We have been specifically commended by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its 2001 report on Hong Kong. We are indeed very proud of these achievements.
The Government's present public housing policy is to continue to provide a supply of subsidised rental housing for families in need, within an average waiting time of around three years. To achieve this objective, we are examining ways to make the best use of our increasingly scarce resources and identifying new ways of financing our housing programme. One major endeavour is to divest the car parking and retail facilities of the Housing Authority through a public listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. We hope that the listing will be launched within 2004-05. Through this type of innovative approach, we are generating the necessary revenue for subsidised public housing development.
But the challenge we have faced is not just in the subsidised public housing area. In the private sector housing too, we have faced major challenges. The onset of the Asian financial turmoil in 1997 and the subsequent bursting of the asset bubble have seen our property prices fall 70%. This had been a painful experience for home owners and a major factor in the deflationary spiral which has affected Hong Kong over the past five years. With the improving economic climate, we are determined to maintain a stable environment to enable the sustained and healthy development of the property market. Indeed, a healthy property market is essential for the continued recovery of our economy.
We are also committed to protecting and improving our living environment. By making sustainable development a foundation for our future efforts, we are looking at ways to achieve a better living environment, through better urban design and protection of our natural and cultural heritage.
Greater attention will be paid to overall environmental considerations. The lessons we learnt during last year's SARS outbreak have reminded us that much more strenuous efforts must be made to create a living environment that is less crowded, cleaner, healthier and more hygienic for all our residents. Better landscaping, more greenery, and more parks, leisure and recreational amenities need to be provided for the benefit of the whole community.
Also, greater attention is being paid to sustainability and energy-efficiency in our housing development. Innovative new design concepts and construction technologies are being implemented that enable us to build better homes in a smarter and more cost-efficient way.
All these initiatives aim to realise our vision of Hong Kong as "Asia's world city" - a pleasant and healthy environment in which to live, work and do business.
Finally, I wish this conference, the International Housing Conference 2004, every success.
Thank you.
Ends/Monday, February 2, 2004
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