FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1987

PROSPEROUS ECONOMY KEYSTONE TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE

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A PROSPEROUS ECONOMY IS THE KEYSTONE TO ANYTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE, THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID WILSON, SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).

IN HIS OPENING REMARK AT HIS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE HE TOOK UP OFFICE, SIR DAVID SAID +AT THE MOMENT, OUR ECONOMY IS DOING VERY WELL BUT THIS FACT MEANS THAT THE GOVERNMENT MUST CONTINUE TO PAY ATTENTION TO ENSURING THAT OUR ECONOMY REMAINS DYNAMIC AND THAT ENTERPRISE IS REWARDED.+

NOTING THAT HE HAD NOW BEEN IN HONG KONG FOR SEVEN WEEKS, SIR DAVID SAID HE FOUND IT STRIKING THAT HONG KONG MAS MADE ENORMOUS PROGRESS OVER THE LAST DECADE, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF QUANTITY OF WHAT HAS BEEN PROVIDED.

HE SAID HE WAS STRUCK BY THE ENORMONS VITALITY OF THE PLACE AND HE WAS ALSO CONSCIOUS OF THE RISING ASPIRATIONS AMONGST PEOPLE HERE+.

+PER HAPS ONE COULD LOOK AT THIS IN TERMS OF A SEARCH FOR IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY, TO MATCH TO IMPROVEMENTS IN QUANTITY WHICH HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE LAST DECADE,+ SIR DAVID SAID.

+THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AREAS WHERE MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE. ONE THINKS OF THE QUALITY OF HOUSING, ONE THINKS OF THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION, THE MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH CARE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT - WHERE THE RAPIDITY OF DEVELOPMENT HAS CREATED ITS OWN PROBLEMS, + HE ADDED.

SIR DAVID SAID GOING AROUND HONG KONG EVEN IN THE PERIOD OF SEVEN WEEKS, HE WAS STRUCK BY +THE AMOUNT OF TIME PEOPLE SPEND IN HONG KONG, DEVOTED TO PUBLIC AFFAIRS+.

+AND I AM THINKING HERE, NOT JUST OF PEOPLE IN THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, THE MUNICIPAL COUNCILS, THE DISTRICT BOARDS WHICH GET A GOOD DEAL OF PUBLICITY - BÚT AT A MUCH LOWER LEVEL, GETTING DOWN TO ADVISORY BOARDS, AREA COMMITTEES, MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES,+ HE SAID.

HE SAID HE WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF VERY VALUABLE WORK DONE BY A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN HONG KONG.

+IT GOES, I THINK WITH A SYSTEM WHICH HAS GROWN UP OVER THE YEARS, WHERE THAT HAPPENS AND WHERE THERE IS ALSO CONSULTATION - AND CONSULTATION IS, OF COURSE, WHAT WE ARE JUST EMBARKING UPON IN THE PROCESS OF DISCUSSING THE GREEN PAPER, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED JUST TWO DAYS AGO, SIR DAVID SAID.

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