Issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Information Services
Garden Road, 5th-8th Floors, Murray Building, Hong Kong. Tel: 2842 8777

Sunday, March 8, 1998



CONTENTS
========
1. Chief Executive's transcript
2. Trade Director visits Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou



1. Chief Executive's transcript
   ****************************

     Following is the transcript (English part) of the
media session given by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee
Hwa, at the airport before departing for Europe this
(Sunday) afternoon:

Reporter: What messages are you bringing to Germany and
France?  How are you going to tell them that everything is
all right in Hong Kong when there has been this recent
attack on press freedom and there has been a spate of
bombings, etc.?  How are you going to tell them that
everything is okay?

Mr Tung: Well, I am going to tell them that since the
return of Hong Kong, everything is really going well, that
"one country, two systems" is now solidly embedded, that
the pride and confidence level is high.  Only very
recently, the German Chamber of Commerce did a survey
which showed close to 85 per cent of the Germans here,
commerce and industry here, have a great deal of
confidence in Hong Kong as we move forward.  So obviously,
of course, there are these pains and challenges brought
about by the currency turmoil around us but you know we
have been doing very well in containing these challenges
and I am sure we will come out even better than before.
That will be the message I will be giving to our friends
in Germany and France.

End


2. Trade Director visits Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou
   **************************************************

     The Director-General of Trade, Mr Alan Lai, today
(Sunday) led a Trade Department delegation on a five-day
visit to Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou.

     "I hope the visit will further enhance trade
relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland and promote
further exchange of views and information on economic and
trade co-operation," Mr Lai said before departure.

     During its stay in Beijing, the delegation will call
on officials of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic
Co-operation, the Department of International
Organisations and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the
State Council, and the Customs General Administration, to
exchange views on matters of mutual interest.

     Members of the delegation will then visit Shanghai
and Suzhou where they will meet Mainland trade officials
before returning to Hong Kong on March 14 (Saturday).

End

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