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Government Information Centre
 
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Photo:The Chief Executive
 
Message from the Chief Executive
   
 
Hong Kong has come a long way in the four years since the Handover in 1997. During that time we have not only managed two momentous changes successfully, but have also created new opportunities for Hong Kong.
     
 
 

The first of these changes was the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. With the firm support of the Central Government, the commitment of Hong Kong people and the guiding principles of the Basic Law, we have turned the 'One Country, Two Systems' concept into an everyday reality. Those quintessential qualities that have made Hong Kong such a unique and successful city are rigorously protected. These include the rule of law, civic freedoms and the commitment to allow the market to lead, with the government facilitating with the provision of the essential infrastructure.

The second huge change was brought about by the impact of the Asian financial crisis. We have emerged from the crisis successfully with a strong recovery. The economy grew by 10.5% last year. Affected by external factors, first quarter GDP figures indicated that we can expect growth of about 3% this year. The final out-turn will depend very much on the performance of the US, Japanese and European economies. But we remain optimistic because we have a positive factor to our advantage and that is the rapidly opening up and expanding mainland China economy, which is forecast to grow by 7-8% this year.

The confidence in Hong Kong is best demonstrated by the strong flow of capital and the flow of people. Last year, there was an inward flow of US$64 billion of foreign direct investment into Hong Kong. A significant proportion of it was funds raised here for investment in the mainland of China, indicating the excellent infrastructure and attraction of Hong Kong's financial markets and our unique position as a leading financial centre. Another sign of confidence is that Hong Kong people who had emigrated before 1997 are returning by the thousands every year.

While managing these two momentous changes, we have not lost sight of our future. We have seized the opportunity to introduce reforms and initiatives in areas that are essential to maintain our competitiveness: in the financial markets, in telecommunications, education, information technology, tourism, civil service reform and other essential areas.

Hong Kong is not only an international financial centre but a centre where multinational companies have chosen to make their Asia Pacific headquarters. Last year, the number of multinational corporations with regional headquarters or offices in Hong Kong grew from 2500 to 3000. Hong Kong remains the ideal location to capitalise on the expanding business opportunities in the Mainland.

Following China's accession to the World Trade Organisation, and the opening of its western region, the level of China's external trade and the amount of foreign direct investment into the Mainland are both forecast to double within this decade. This growth in trade will add significant traffic to our airport and our container port, which are already among the busiest in the world. The growth in investment will further enhance our role as a financial centre. Of the US$59 billion raised in our stock market last year, three-quarters was for Mainland companies.

China's accession to the WTO will also allow Hong Kong's professional and service industries to take full advantage of the opening up of different sectors of the Mainland economy. This will provide new opportunities to our service industries, in particular the financial and banking sectors.

We are actively investing in 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. We will double the participation rate of our young people for tertiary education from 30% to 60% within 10 years. We are actively promoting the 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 98%, is one of the highest in the world. The construction of the first phase of the Cyberport and the new Science Park, both of which will create the necessary cluster effect, are progressing well.

Our infrastructure developments also include development for the 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, Hong Kong Disneyland due to open in 2005. With world-class facilities we expect Hong Kong tourist arrivals to make a quantum leap.

In addition to the emphasis we place on economy and business, we are firmly committed to raising the quality of life for our people. 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 future, after finishing a busy day of business, our visitors will be able to enjoy productions ranging from Broadway musicals to Peking operas.

In May this year, we launched a major new long-term programme to better promote Hong Kong internationally as Asia's world city. A dynamic and energetic dragon has been chosen as our new global brand. The dragon represents the dynamism and creativity of our city and will be used to help focus greater attention on all of the strengths and advantages that Hong Kong brings to its business and investment partners throughout the world.

As always, there is much happening in Hong Kong. But then again, Hong Kong has never been content to stand still.

Tung Chee Hwa signature

Tung Chee Hwa

 

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