Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the launch of Brand Hong Kong at the FORTUNE Global Forum today (May 10):

President Clinton, Mr Needham, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I come today to thank you for joining us for this very successful FORTUNE Global Forum and to bid you farewell. It has indeed been a distinct honour for Hong Kong to co-host the 2001 FORTUNE Global Forum. We look forward to more opportunities of collaboration with AOL-Time Warner to bring more great events to Hong Kong.

President Clinton, we are pleased to have you with us today. You are a good friend of Hong Kong. You have been an outstanding leader of the United States for eight years. During your term of office, you devoted tremendous efforts in improving the Sino/US relationship, and Mr President, for this you will be long remembered here in Hong Kong and Chinese people everywhere. Mr President, welcome to Hong Kong.

As Asia slowly overcomes the turmoil of the financial crisis that began in 1997, new business opportunities will be created throughout the region. This is a region of tremendous growth potential, expanding markets and people with aspirations to improve their livelihood.

As you contemplate your development plans for this area, I wish to leave you with a few thoughts. First, after spending several days in our beautiful city, I am sure that many of you will agree that Hong Kong is so multi-faceted and rich in colour, it is not easy to describe. Let me share with you our description - Asia's World City. We believe that this phrase captures the essence of Hong Kong and the role we are playing on the world stage. Indeed, our vision is to make Hong Kong playing the same role as London plays for Europe and New York plays for North and South America.

The second point I want to make is that Hong Kong is an international financial centre and a centre where multi-national companies choose to make their Asia Pacific headquarters. Hong Kong remains the ideal location to capitalise on the expanding business opportunities on the Mainland. For the past 20 years, Hong Kong has prospered from, and contributed to, the rapid modernisation of China.

Following China's accession to the WTO, and opening of western region of China, the level of China's external trade and the amount of foreign direct investment into the Mainland are both forecast to double during the next decade. This growth in trade will add significant traffic to our airport and our container port, which are already the busiest in the world. The growth in investment will enhance our role as a financial centre. Already of the 56 billion US Dollars raised in the capital market last year in Hong Kong, three-quarters were for companies from the Mainland.

Furthermore, with China's accession to the WTO, Hong Kong's professional and service industries will be taking full advantage of the opening of different sectors of the Mainland economy. This will provide new opportunities to our service industries.

Additionally, continued prosperity in the Mainland has led to a growing consumer market. Hong Kong's knowledge of the Mainland manufacturing sector, as well as our ability to understand Mainland's domestic market, is of great benefit to our multinational partners.

This brings me to my third point. We are actively investing in our physical infrastructures, building new roads, railways, and container terminals. At the same time, we are also investing in our soft infrastructure, in particular, our human resources. Within ten years, 60% of our young people will have the opportunity to study for college degrees or diplomas. We are actively promoting IT and telecommunications industries, not only as an economic driver but also as a way to improve our productivity and efficiency. Our broadband penetration to homes at 95% is one of the highest anywhere in the world. The construction of first phase of the Cyberport and the new Science Park, both of which will create the necessary cluster effect, are progressing well. My key message here is that if you invest in Hong Kong, the facilities, infrastructure and human resources you require are already here, and they will continue to improve.

Our infrastructure developments also include development for tourism industry. Hong Kong is the top tourism destination in East Asia. Last year, we received more than 13 million visitors. Within this decade, we will build more tourist attractions, the core of which is, of course, the Disneyland with opening scheduled for 2005. With world class facilities, we expect Hong Kong tourist arrivals to make quantum leap.

Fourth, in addition to the emphasis we place on economy and business, we are firmly committed to raising the quality of life for people throughout our community. On the environmental front, we have adopted a full range of initiatives to improve our air quality. Fresh strategies are being created to deal with solid waste and sewage treatment. On the cultural front, we are designing a world-class cultural complex in Western Kowloon, so that in the future, after finishing your business all day long here in Hong Kong, you will be able to enjoy productions ranging from Broadway musicals to Peking operas.

Finally, I hope you will leave Hong Kong with the knowledge that this is a vibrant, dynamic community committed to freedom and to the rule of law. This has been made possible by the implementation of the unique concept of "One Country, Two Systems".

Furthermore, in pursuing our vision, we will certainly maintain our commitment to free market principles. For seven years in a row, the Heritage Foundation has rated Hong Kong as the world's freest economy.

To leave you with some lasting and pleasant memories of Hong Kong, in a moment we are going to make a special presentation of "Brand Hong Kong". This is part and parcel of our new global strategy for promoting Hong Kong. The new visual identity represents Hong Kong's dynamism and creativity.

Your visit to Hong Kong coincides, ladies and gentlemen, with the installation of the new team in my Administration. Donald Tsang and Antony Leung join me in thanking you for your interest in Hong Kong. We also extend to you an open invitation to visit Hong Kong again, to once again experience our hospitality and to renew and strengthen our links and friendship. My hope is that, together with Hong Kong, your business will continue to grow and prosper!

Thank you very much!

End/Thursday, May 10, 2001

  Photo:Picture shows Mr Tung posing in front of the project logo.

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