!
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1988
63
HE POINTED OUT THAT RECENT ECONOMIC SUCCESS (13 PER GROWTH ON 11 PER CENT REAL GROWTH) HAD CAUSED A CERTAIN OVER HEATING OF THE ECONOMY WITH THE INFLATION RATE RISING SEVEN PER CENT.
CENT REAL AMOUNT OF ΤΟ AROUND
IMMIGRATION INCREASE IN
"WORRIES ABOUT THE FUTURE, COUPLED WITH THE POLICIES BEING ADOPTED BY SOME COUNTRIES, HAVE CAUSED AN EMIGRATION, PARTICULARLY AMONG OUR TALENTED MIDDLE-MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL CLASS, SIR DAVID SAID.
H
"NATURALLY THIS IS A WORRY,
PARTICULARLY WHEN COMBINED WITH CREATED BY A BUOYANT
THE INTENSE COMPETITION FOR TALENTED MANPOWER ECONOMY."
HE POINTED OUT THAT THERE WERE BOUND TO BE UPS AND DOWNS AHEAD OF HONG KONG, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER 1997.
THROUGH MANY YEARS AND
"BUT HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE HAVE, MANY CRISES, SHOWN THEIR RESILIENCE AND THEIR ABILITY ΤΟ TAKE PROBLEMS IN THEIR STRIDE," SIR DAVID SAID.
CITING AN ANALYSIS WHICH PREDICTED THAT BY THE YEAR 2000, THE EAST ASIAN ECONOMIES WOULD HAVE A JOINT GNP GREATER THAN THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE AND AS BIG AS THAT OF NORTH AMERICA, HE SAID HONG KONG WAS IDEALLY PLACED TO PLAY A LEADING PART IN THIS.
"WE AS A GOVERNMENT ARE COMMITTED TO CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR HONG KONG'S FINANCIAL MARKETS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF CHINA AND THE REGION WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY.
HONG
KONG,
"HONG KONG WILL CONTINUE ΤΟ BE A PLACE OF OPPORTUNITY," HE STRESSED.
INTERNATIONAL
DECLARATION,
THE GOVERNOR ADDED THAT THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT WHILE STATED IN TERMS THAT HONG KONG WAS TO REMAIN AN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE, ALSO CONTAINED A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT POINTS WHICH CREATED THE PRACTICAL CONDITIONS TO ENABLE THIS ΤΟ HAPPEN, FOR AT LEAST 50 YEARS AFTER 1997.
ALL THE IMPORTANT PROVISIONS HAD BEEN INCORPORATED IN THE DRAFT BASIC LAW FOR THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN APRIL, SIR DAVID SAID.
THE
HE NOTED THAT THE CLEAR AIM OF THE
CLEAR
BASIC LAW DRAFTERS WHICH WAS TO REINFORCE THE GENERAL PROMISES OF CONTINUITY CONTAINED IN JOINT DECLARATION, HAD, IN SOME CASES, LED THEM TO GO BEYOND JOINT DECLARATION AND LAY DOWN OTHER POLICY GUIDELINES, SUCH AS A TAX POLICY AND BALANCED BUDGET.-
THE
LOW
"THESE ARE OF COURSE ADMIRABLE OBJECTIVES IN THEMSELVES. BUT LAYING THEM DOWN IN A LAW WOULD = LIMIT THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE SAR GOVERNMENT AND TEND TO RESTRICT THE AUTONOMY THAT IS PROMISED IN JOINT DECLARATION.
THE
"BO IT