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 fternoon:

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.

Chief Executive's transcript (Chinese part)