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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the media stand-up session by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, after the ceremony to mark the listing of the retail bonds and institutional notes of Hong Kong Link 2004 Limited on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong today (May 10):

Reporter: How do you feel about the bid level today?

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury: I saw that there was one lot traded at $98.50 for the three-year retail bonds. Typically, retail bonds are not actively traded on the Exchange. As I said earlier on, this is to increase the transparency of the bonds, as well as to give investors another channel, other than over-the-counter, to trade the bonds. We also hope that through listing, we would encourage more private corporations to issue bonds and list their bonds on the Hong Kong Exchange so that we can reinforce our position as an international financial centre.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion)

Ends/Monday, May 10, 2004

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