HONG KONG GEARS UP FOR A WORLD WITHOUT WALLS
While acknowledging that the political transition had succeeded, there were those who felt Hong Kong had lost its way and would not be able to recover its legendary economic lustre. Well, as The New York Times once said, nobody ever made any money betting against Hong Kong. The survival and enduring strength of the HK Dollar and its link to the US Dollar in the face of potentially lethal attacks from hedge funds in the summer of 1998 is a recent example.
More to the point, the birth of the SAR, with Hong Kong people running Hong Kong, provided the platform on which to build new strategies for growth, prosperity and pride in a new identity as a part, once more, of our ancient nation. The onslaught of the Asian financial turmoil posed another unexpected challenge. It brought with it the chance to respond with the restructuring required to meet the ever-growing, ever-shifting demands of globalisation in the new century.
Thus, while managing to contain the worst of the contagion, a series of long-term strategic co-ordinates has taken shape. For example:
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Hong Kong now has one of the world's most liberalised telecommunications markets;
The over-dependence on property has been broken, and major property developers are now taking their place in the vanguard of the Cyber sector;
The stock and futures markets and their clearing houses are in the final stages of merger and demutualisation and are being plugged into the most sophisticated of e-trading systems. A Nasdaq-style new board, the Growth Enterprise Market-or GEM-has been established to help finance small companies with big ideas;
• A Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) is to be launched to provide protection for an ageing population. Initially, the MPF will inject $10 billion annually into the financial markets, rising to $60 billion annually by 2030;
• A set of initiatives, including the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland at a picturesque bay on Lantau Island, near the Hong Kong International Airport, is designed to revitalise the tourism industry;
• A far-reaching strategy is in place to tackle environmental problems;
• A $100 billion railway building programme will help improve living standards by expanding the transport network mainly in the New Territories, open up new areas for development and provide a powerful new impetus to Hong Kong's cross-boundary capabilities;
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Plans are advanced to stimulate fresh interest in and growth of the arts, sport and leisure. The focus will be a performing arts and leisure precinct in West Kowloon, enjoying a premier view of Hong Kong's famous skyline.
Finally, set against the backdrop of China's anticipated accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Hong Kong commands the advantages of natural access and cultural and linguistic links to the Mainland from which to launch a new chapter in its remarkable story of growth.
At the start of the 21st century, the Administration was preparing a framework for Hong Kong's development over the next 30 years. It is the product of a two-year study by the Commission on Strategic Development and encompasses a vision for a better quality of life for an energetic and progressive community in the critical areas of the environment, land use, harbour foreshore development, industrial policy,
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