THURSDAY, APR1, 19, 1990
IN
FEASIBILITY STUDY
JANUARY, WE APPOINTED CONSULTANTS TO CARRY OUT A DESIGN REVIEW FOR THE FIXID CROSSING AS WELL AS THE NORTH LANTAU EXPRESSWAY. IN MARCH, SEPARAT. CONSULTANTS WERE APPOINTED ΤΟ CARRY OUT A
FOR THE AIRPORT RAILWAY TO DEFINE THE ALIGNMENT, ADVISE ON STATION LOCATIONS, CAPACITY AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS. THE MTRC IS PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY. A FINANCIAL STUDY WILL COMMENCE SHORTLY TO EXAMINE THE FINANCIAL VIABILITY OF THE PROJECT AND THE METHOD OF FUNDING.
THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ABOUT THE AFFORDABILITY OF THESE PROJECTS. THEY SEEM ΤΟ STEM FROM THE MISCONCEPTION THAT GOVERNMENT WILL PAY FOR THE LOT. LET ME PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE.
FIRST, THE PADS PROJECT, LIKE OTHER LARGE PROJECTS WE HAVE CONSTRUCTED BEFORE, SUCH AS THE NEW TOWNS AND THE MTRC, BREAKS DOWN INTO SEVERAL SMALLER PROJECTS. A ROUGH BREAKDOWN OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS IS AS FOLLOWS:
* EXPANSION OF PORT FACILITIES
* CHEK LAP KOK AIRPORT
$50 BILLION
$35 BILLION
* MAJOR AIRPORT RELATED LINKS
$18 BILLION
* ASSOCIATED TRANSPORT FACILITIES
$20 BILLION
AND SUPPORTING URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
* ASSOCIATED UTILITIES PROVISION
SECONDLY, SEVERAL PROJECTS WILL BE
$ 4 BILLION.
— —
FUNDED BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR. THESE INCLUDE ALL THE PORT FACILITIES - LIKE ALL OUR EXISTING PORT FACILITIES THEY WILL BE PRIVATELY BUILT AND OPERATED THE FIXED CROSSING, SOME OF THE TERMINAL FACILITIES AND SO ON. AT PRESENT, AND ON THE BASIS OF THE FIGURES I HAVE JUST GIVEN, WE COULD, OF COURSE BUILD THE AIRPORT ITSELF FROM OUR ACCUMULATED FISCAL RESERVES. WHETHER WE CHOOSE TO DO SO IS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MATTER. AS IN THE PAST WE WILL EXAMINE A RANGE OF FINANCING OPTIONS AND SELECT THAT WHICH MOST PRUDENT AND ADVANTAGEOUS TO HONG KONG. IN ORDER TO HELP US THIS TASK WE WILL. SHORTLY APPOINT AN OVERALL FINANCIAL CONSULTANT.
IS
IN
BE
THIRDLY, CONSTRUCTION AND THEREFORE EXPENDITURE WILL INCREMENTAL. THE CONTAINER TERMINALS WILL BE TRIGGERED BY DEMAND AS THEY ARE AT PRESENT. OUR ESTIMATE IS THAT CONTRACTS FOR THE WHOLE WILL SPAN APPROXIMATELY 15 YEARS, WITH THE PEAK YEAR POR CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY IN 1993.
THE EXTENT OF PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT HAS ALL ALONG BEEN AN ISSUE OF CONSIDERABLE INTEREST. SIX MONTHS FROM OUR ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT DATE, OUR ESTIMATE THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR WOULD FIND IT ATTRACTIVE TO TAKE PART IN 40 TO 60 PER CENT OF THE PROJECT HAS NOT CHANGED. INDEED, WE HAVE BEEN ENORMOUSLY ENCOURAGED BY THE MORE THAN 700 EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST WE HAVE RECEIVED. MANY OF THE FIRMS INVOLVED ARE BIG MULTI-NATIONAL COMPANIES, AND MY RECENT TRIP TO THE UNITED KINGDOM CONFIRMS MY OPTIMISM. FAR FROM OUR HAVING TO "SELL" THE PROJECT, THE WORLD IS QUEUING UP TO TAKE PART.
/10
Page 10Page 11