Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at the Annual Reception for New Investors this afternoon (July 11):

Ladies and gentlemen,

     It is always a pleasure for me to officiate at this annual event, welcoming new foreign investors to Hong Kong.

     You are now members of the great Hong Kong family. We want you to feel completely at home in our community. We want you to stay and grow and prosper with us. Your success represents our success.

     This year, Hong Kong is celebrating the 10th anniversary of our return to China. What a milestone. And what better way to highlight just how wrong all the doomsayers of yesteryear were.

     I suspect most people have by now forgotten the famous - or should I say infamous - cover story in an international business magazine in 1995. It was entitled "Death of Hong Kong". At the time it created quite a stir, and long faces. That cover still enshrined in my bookshelf in front of me every day. Now it only provokes wry smiles.

     For the Hong Kong of 2007 is different from 1997, but not in the ways envisaged by the article.  Over the past decade, the value of our trade in goods and services has grown by 67%.  Port cargo is up 64%.  Air cargo has doubled. Stock market capitalisation has grown four-fold. The number of listed companies is up 78%.  The Hang Seng Index is up 87% approximately. The number of visitors has more than doubled. The number of foreign-owned regional operations has grown by more than 50%.  This last figure is extraordinary, yet it seems almost pedestrian compared to the others.

     As important as these changes are, there are some things that have not and will not change. The rule of law upheld by an independent judiciary. Our civil rights and freedoms. The free flow of information, capital, people and goods. Our multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-national community. Our level playing field for business. A clean government. Your presence in Hong Kong is not just a testimony to the business potential you see; it is also testimony to the strengths that underpin our development as Asia's world city.

     But Hong Kong is not a city that dwells overmuch on past achievements.  Our focus is on future challenges and opportunities.  What will the Hong Kong of 2017 look like? For a start, air quality will have improved thanks to the raft of measures taken locally and the enhanced co-operation with our neighbours in Guangdong.  Incidentally, we are very lucky that we are now enjoying three weeks of blue sky in a row. It is just simply brilliant outside. I hope it will endure for five years at least. In this regard, we shall spare no effort.  Let me emphasise this - in cleaning up our air, we shall spare no effort. We have to strengthen our infrastructural links with the Mainland through roads, bridges, airports and piers, all of them bringing economic growth for ourselves and the Mainland. And our young people will have benefited from the switch to four-year university education so that they are better equipped than ever for the exciting future that lies in store for them. All in all, a very satisfying legacy.

     The past few months have seen a steady stream of positive news on the economic front. Our Foreign Direct Investment figures for 2006, released in March, show a staggering US$42.9 billion was invested here last year. As far as InvestHK's own work goes, the Director-General assures me that his department continues to bring in new foreign investments at the rate of one completed investment project every working day. Moreover, the pipeline of potential future projects is in extremely healthy condition.

     Ladies and gentlemen, once again, welcome to our city. Your future growth and prosperity are as important to us as they are to you.

     Thank you.

Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:40

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