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Following is the transcript of a speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers 25th Annual Dinner on April 26, 2000:
President Chan, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am greatly honoured to be invited to speak in front of this gathering. When my wife and I were courting after a year or so, she said to me: How come you are so dull? How come you are so square? How come you are so serious? So I said, well, you know, I am an engineer. You will be interested to know my first job was an engineer. I was a design engineer of steam turbines with General Electric Company in Massachusetts. And, therefore, I am particularly delighted today to be amongst friends, amongst engineers, dull as we may be. The subject I have chosen to speak tonight is about my just concluded visit to Canada and to the United States. I would like to tell you the objectives of my visit and how successful we were. I also want to share with you some of my observations and how they relate to Hong Kong.
I was in Canada and the United States for six days and visited the following cities: Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. In both countries, my colleagues and I were received at the highest level and with great warmth and friendship. This reflects the standing Hong Kong has in these countries and the bond that has been established over the years be they cultural, commercial or person to person. It is also a recognition of how successful Hong Kong has been since our return, and how well "One Country, Two Systems" is working.
I had very useful exchange of views with the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of the United States, various Ministers and Secretaries of both countries. I also met with some 30 Senators and Congressmen in Washington as well as members of the Canada - Hong Kong Parliamentary Friendship Group. I had numerous meetings with leading personalities in commerce, finance and industry in both countries. There were of course appearances before the press as well as appearances on national TV in both USA and Canada.
What was the message I was trying to convey during the entire visit? It is a message of pride and confidence. The pride is that over the last two years and nine months, we have successfully turned the untried "One Country, Two Systems" concept into reality. The pride is also in that we had overcome the adverse impact on our economy as a result of the Asian financial turmoil. Indeed, although the final figures of the first quarter of the Year 2000 are not yet available, the initial figures show our economy continues to rebound very very strongly.
Well, as I explained to my audience in Canada and New York that why we had successfully overcome these enormous challenges we, as a community, never lost focus as to the long-term development of HK. Our major concern is how would Hong Kong be positioned in the 21st Century. I explained that HK would be positioned not only just as one of the major cities in China, but also one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia, playing the role of New York, as New York is to America and London is to Europe. As 21st Century unfolds, we are embracing the knowledge economy to ensure our financial well being and to improve our quality of life for all the citizens.
The message I gave in both countries were very well received. It is not because I am an effective speaker, but because of the fact that these two years and nine months speaks for themselves. Furthermore, what we have achieved in these two years and nine months gave confidence to our audience that our future goals are also attainable.
So it was a very useful visit but the other interesting part of my visit was walking the corridors of the House of Representatives and the Senate, to talk about how important it is for the United States Senate and the House to approve the PNTR Legislation for China. It is again an easy sell because the logic is there for America to approve PNTR status for China. It is, of course, in the interest of Hong Kong that this should happen. It is in the interest of China, but it is also very much in the interest of the United States of America.
In 1978, according to the United Nations statistics, there were 300 million people living under poverty line. This number has now dwindled down to 60 odd million people. If one really cares about human rights, one should look at these figures and then understand PNTR, what PNTR would do to help China in fighting against poverty if you really care about human rights.
There are environmentalists who're against world trade generally and giving PNTR status to China specifically. If developing nations participate in the world trade and through it, create wealth for themselves, it is that wealth creation that helps to improve environment for everybody. You are not going to improve environment around the world if you do not permit developing nations to create wealth, and their argument just doesn't make sense to me. And to those protectionists and unionists who are also against PNTR, I said to them, well, as far as China is concerned what China manufactures, you in America, do not manufacture like beer, shoes, tennis rackets, and shirts because the trade deficit US has today is actually a structural deficit. If they do not buy from China, America will have to buy from some other countries. It is a structural deficit.
So the issue is to look at who is going to buy more from you. With the growth of the Chinese economy, China will be able to import a great deal more from the United States of America. My own feeling is that, many of the arguments in America are very much politically motivated. But I also believe both the House and Senate will vote in favour of PNTR Legislation because at the end of the day it is in the interest of the United States to do so, not only from a geopolitical point of view, but also from a point of view of pure common sense. Not giving this to China would hurt trade from the United States to China and give the benefit to Japan and to Europe. So my own feeling is that it is a good chance that the PNTR Legislation will be approved when it's voted on by the House during the week of May 20th.
I would now like to share with you a number of observations that I have had and also how they related to Hong Kong.
Canada was voted six years in a row by the United Nations as the most desirable country to live in. Many of you visit Canada very often, and you understand why it's a beautiful country. And in areas of education, environmental protection, culture and heritage, etc, Canada has done exceptionally well for its citizens.
It is in these areas we in Hong Kong really need to re-double our efforts if we are to build a better future for the generations to come. My successive Policy Speeches and particularly my Policy Address last year emphasized on "Quality People, Quality Home". I want to assure you the Government will not let up on these efforts.
While I was in Toronto and Los Angeles, I had some useful discussions on how to improve air qualities. Although much should have been done some years ago, we have begun our efforts and I hope 5 years from now, our air quality will be as good as both London and New York, or Toronto, or Los Angeles.
My second observation is that Canada is really a great country. But as I talked with the Consul General of Canada in Hong Kong, Canada really has a branding problem in Hong Kong. To many people of Hong Kong, Canada is a place where one's auntie lives there or uncle lives there, or one's brother or sister lives there; a place where you can have a wonderful holiday; go to Whistler to ski; and a place general to visit. This may well be the case. But Canada has some of the best technology companies in the world, such as Norton Telecom. The country also leads in small commercial jets manufacturing and is one of the world leaders in environmental technology. Few people in Hong Kong would know this.
Similarly, we also have a branding problem. We have a real branding problem overseas because a lot of the positive news, a lot of the good things we are doing in HK are not being well publicised overseas. And this is something again we in HK need to redouble our efforts. The government has this responsibility and we are going to do it and I hope everyone of you will be ambassador of HK when you go overseas. Tell everyone overseas what we are doing, what we are all about and how confident we are about our future.
The third observation I want to mention to you is about the United States. The successful application of science and technology by the United States is an envy for the whole world. It is reported that US now is in the longest economic expansion in history, with no inflation. Much of this are attributable to their effort over the years in innovation, in technology, particularly in the application of information technology.
In HK, two years ago, we began this effort. We began to move towards innovation and technology as a means to raise our competitiveness and to sustain our economic growth and thereby creating wealth for our people. Although much still needs to be done, experience in the United States tells us this is the way forward. We are on the right track.
The fourth point I want to share with you is that during my visit to the US last July when I visited the Silicon Valley, and again on this recent visit, one cannot but feel the vigor of the US economy and the confidence of its people. What a contrast when you compare this with the late 80's and early 90's.
At that time I was a businessman, and for business reasons, I had to go to the United States very frequently. The economy then was in a doldrum. Unemployment was at a record high. Government budget deficit was at unacceptable levels. You will also remember there was a savings and loan associations problem, the problem of the size of US$500 million which eventually the taxpayers of US had to assume. Bankruptcy was high. Multinational companies finding their products were not able to compete in terms of quality, design or marketing with those products from Germany or Japan.
In fact, well-known academics from MIT and other universities were talking about how to learn from the way Japan managed enterprises as a way forward. Now, at the beginning of a new century, with good macro economy policies, application of science and technology and market driven reforms of commercial enterprises, US economy is in a strong period of growth and confidence level is at all time high. Things can change.
In Hong Kong, over the last two and a half years or two years and nine months, we have to face the adverse impact of an unprecedented financial turmoil. Our economy contracted. Unemployment went up. We were losing confidence in ourselves. But, with the incursion into the market in August 98 our move into innovation and technology, our effort to stabilise property prices, the imminent accession of China into WTO together with Hong Kong entrepreneural's spirit, Hong Kong is also poised to recover strongly from the difficulties and our future as the
21st Century unfolds is indeed a very promising and a very bright one.
In all the cities I had visited in the US and Canada, the enthusiasm of reception by overseas Chinese from Hong Kong, from Mainland China or other parts of the world were overwhelming. They all applauded the successful implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" and expressed the hope that the entire country will soon be reunited. From that point of view, I know the best Hong Kong can do, the best Hong Kong can contribute in this effort is to ensure the continued successful implementation of "One Country, Two Systems".
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is some of my very brief observations that I had during my visit. In fact, there are many more if time allows me to go on and on.
Over the past decades, Hong Kong people have created wealth and prosperity that is really impressive by all counts. As the 21st Century unfolds, I am confident that Hong Kong will scale new heights in achievements. I want to thank the elder generation of engineers who had contributed so much to the past success of Hong Kong. As our well being will be increasingly related to science and technology, I know for the 20,000 who have chosen engineers as their profession here in Hong Kong now and for future generations of engineers, you will be one of the main architects of our future success.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I invite you all to rise and join me in a toast. To the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers!
End/Wednesday, April 26, 2000
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