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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, said that if Hong Kong was to seriously move forward on constitutional development, compromise had to be achieved and agreement must be reached on electoral arrangements for 2012.
Speaking at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Annual Dinner in London today (October 31, London time), Mr Hui said all the principal players ˇV the democratic camp, other factions in Legislative Council, the business sector and the Government had to achieve a meaningful compromise on reform.
ˇ§As in most mature and educated communities, domestic politics, over time, tend to converge towards the centre,ˇ¨he said.
He said, discussions were taking place in the Commission on Strategic Development to work out a roadmap for universal suffrage, and a report would be published in the first half of next year.
The voting result in Legco last December that vetoed the constitutional reform package although it was backed by public opinion, was very regrettable since the electoral arrangements for 2007 and 2008 must now stay the same as before, Mr Hui said.
There was one very important lesson to be learnt from the voting result in Legco last December, he said.
ˇ§We cannot just blithely ignore the fact that Hong Kong's democratic development must be in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress, according to Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law."
On the economic front, Mr Hui said that Hong Kong economy was in the midst of a broad, sustained recovery with GDP growing by 7.3% last year, and 6.6% in the first half of this year.
In terms of total capital raised by means of IPO this year, Hong Kong had surpassed New York and was now second only to London. It was achieved after the successful IPO of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China when it was simultaneously listed on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges on October 27.
ˇ§And Hong Kong continues to be rated the world's freest economy by leading public policy institutes in the United States and around the world. Further confirmation of our success is the fact that overseas companies keep moving our way,ˇ¨ said Mr Hui.
ˇ§There are now more than 3,800 overseas companies with regional operations in Hong Kong, which is a record high,ˇ¨ he said.
As a consequence, there was an increasing demand for international school places from expatriates bringing their families to Hong Kong.
The number of non-local students enrolled in Hong Kong's primary and secondary schools rose by 6% to more than 26,000 in 2005-06, and there were expansion plans and proposals from a number of the 55 international schools in Hong Kong, he said.
ˇ§As an international business centre with a steady growing expatriate population, Hong Kong is committed to improving our air quality,ˇ¨ he said.
He briefed the business and community leaders at the dinner on efforts the Government had been making locally and through regional co-operation with the Guangdong Provincial Government in reducing emissions and improving air quality.
During his stay in London, Mr Hui called on the Chinese Ambassador Mr Zha Peixin at the Chinese Embassy, and attended a roundtable meeting with members of the Hong Kong Association.
He will return to Hong Kong on November 1 (London time).
Ends/Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Issued at HKT 09:35
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