Press Release

 

 

Chief Executive 's transcript in California

**************************************

Following is a transcript of remarks (English part) by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after a visit to Disney facilities in California today (April 11, HK time):

Mr Tung: I have just visited Disneyland today to see their theme park development plans as it relates to the theme park in Hong Kong and their research and development facilities. I visited Disney University, which is Disney's training centre. And just now I have had a very interesting and useful discussion with Mr Eisner (Disney chairman and Chief Executive Officer).

It's been an extremely useful visit to me. It has made me even more confident that building Disneyland in Hong Kong will, firstly, strengthen Hong Kong's economy and bring Hong Kong's tourism to world-class standards. And secondly, Disney's innovation and technology is unbelievable and I am sure it will upgrade our own entertainment industry. Hong Kong Disneyland, I am sure, will provide new development and employment opportunities for all sectors of the community in Hong Kong. It's been a wonderful visit for me personally.

Mr Tung: (Replying to a question originally in Chinese concerning how he would sum up his trip to Canada and the US): The question was asked of me about whether I can summarise my visit to Canada and to the United States and I made the following points.

Firstly is this, that from discussions I have had with the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Canada and leaders in commerce and industry and in the political arena I clearly had the feeling that both the United States and Canada recognise that 'One Country, Two Systems' is being very successfully implemented in Hong Kong and that both countries would want to have an even closer relationship with Hong Kong from an economic and commercial point of view. And I feel Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre and a trading centre is greatly enhanced.

I have also had the opportunity, during my visit to Washington, to talk with the President of the United States and members of the Congress and Senate about the importance of granting PNTR status to China. This is not just good for Hong Kong, an economy which is in the process of recovering, not only good for China, but also very good for the United States of America. And my own hope is that our effort has been somewhat helpful, although a lot of work still needs to be done in the next month and a half.

When I was in Toronto I had a chance to visit the environmental protection department to understand how they are tackling their environmental issues. After this gathering I will be going to visit the City of Los Angeles environmental protection agencies, also with a view to learning as to how Los Angeles and Southern California is going forward with environmental protection, particularly in the area of air quality. It is an issue, as you all know, that we in Hong Kong are very much concerned about. And I'm quite sure that the knowledge that we have gained in our trip to North America will be helpful in our process of moving forward in Hong Kong.

And finally, today, I had a very useful visit to Southern California, to Disneyland, and I am sure that the Disney development will be a very good one in Hong Kong and Disney will help to strengthen our economy and help create a lot of new employment opportunities.

Thank you very much.


Chief Executive 's transcript in California (Chinese part)

End/Tuesday, April 11, 2000

NNNN