REVIEW
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There is little doubt that while Hong Kong will remain a territory with a definite ceiling on constitutional progress, the horizons on the social and economic level are boundless. It is a truism that local people, though the children of a political eunuch, enjoy more real freedom than many of their Commonwealth counterparts. Certainly, at the end of the 1970s Hong Kong people were better off than millions of people in the region and, next to Japan, could claim one of the highest standards of living, with a gross domestic product per head of more than $15,000.
With exports 37 per cent up in 1979 at $55.9 billion, re-exports racing ahead by 51 per cent to $20 billion, and imports rising by 36 per cent to $85.8 billion, Hong Kong has high hopes for the future that its strong and continually diversifying economy will sustain an adequate growth rate. The tertiary sector and China provide able support for our still expanding secondary industries which in the future we aim to make more capital, rather than labour, intensive. Moreover, just as Hong Kong has established firm links with China, it will continue to develop its connections and business links with the region – reckoned by many to be the major growth area of the next decade.
The 1980s promise, however, to be years when fine-tuning will be the order of the day for the government. Lest constitutional sterility breeds complacency, it is essential for the administration to be aware, to respond and, inevitably, to act decisively. And this will in turn call for all the powers and patience of a government that, if not representative should at least be fully responsive and accountable. A need to know more about the lives and longings of the people is the first duty of every government and the balance that Hong Kong has to strike is between its desire to give the economy as free a rein as possible and the public requirement for justice, fair play and responsible administration.
The increasing links that are about to be forged by the government with the people, at the district level, give hope that these will strengthen a two-way communication process that will be mutually productive and fulfilling.
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