TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1993
12
FIRST OF ALL, WE ALL AGREE THAT HONG KONG NEEDS A NEW AIRPORT AND WILL GET A NEW AIRPORT. SECONDLY, WE ALL, I IMAGINE, AGREE THAT THAT AIRPORT NEEDS TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE WAY POSSIBLE. THIRDLY, 1 HOPE WE ALL AGREE THAT THE SOONER WE CAN COMPLETE THAT AIRPORT, THE BETTER FOR HONG KONG AND THE REGION, LEAST THE BETTER FOR THE SAR GOVERNMENT. I THINK THOSE ARE POINTS THAT WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO AGREE ABOUT.
NOT
ALL
MY
WE HAVE PUT IN THE PAST, AND MUCH OF THIS DEBATE PRE-DATED ARRIVAL IN HONG KONG A NUMBER OF PROPOSALS TO CHINESE OFFICIALS ABOUT FINANCING THE AIRPORT,
THE MOST RECENT PROPOSALS INVOLVED, FOR EXAMPLE, SCRAPPING ANY IDEA OF CALLABLE EQUITY FALLING DUE AFTER 1997. THAT WAS, I HOPE, A CONSTRUCTIVE ATTEMPT TO MEET WHAT WE UNDERSTOOD TO BE CHINESE CONCERNS. I WILL BE VERY HAPPY TO BUILD ON THAT PROPOSAL OR PREVIOUS PROPOSALS THAT WE PUT, IN ORDER TO TRY TO FIND A WAY IN WHICH WE CAN AGREE A COMPREHENSIVE FINANCING PACKAGE FOR AN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT WHICH ALL OF US ARE COMMITTED TO AND WHICH OF US WANT TO SEE COMPLETED.
ALL
MUST
IN
CHINESE OFFICIALS ARE WHOLLY RIGHT WHEN THEY SAY THAT WE DO THIS IN THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE WAY POSSIBLE. I THINK, RESPONSE, WE CAN LEGITIMATELY SAY IN HONG KONG, THAT VERY FEW COMMUNITIES HAVE A BETTER RECORD OF CARRYING THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY THAN THIS ONE. IT'S NO CREDIT TO THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG, IT'S EVERY CREDIT TO MY PREDECESSORS AND TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE WORKED ON THESE PROJECTS. IT IS ALSO, I THINK, WHOLLY REASONABLE FOR CHINESE OFFICIALS TO SAY THAT THEY DON'T WANT TO SEE THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, IN THE FUTURE, SADDLED WITH EXCESSIVE DEBTS. I DON'T WANT TO SEE PEOPLE IN FUTURE SADDLED WITH EXCESSIVE DEBTS, NOR DO I WANT TO SEE PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE MISSING OUT ON THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF COMPLETING AN AIRPORT AS RAPIDLY AS WE CAN POSSIBLY COMPLETE IT.
SO I DO HOPE THAT IN THAT SPIRIT, BEFORE TOO LONG WE CAN AGREE ON AN OVERALL FINANCIAL PACKAGE FOR THE AIRPORT. AN AIRPORT, I REPEAT, WHICH IT IS IN EVERYONE'S INTEREST TO SEE COMPLETE. AIRPORT WHICH WOULD BE GOOD FOR HONG KONG AND GOOD, IN MY JUDGMENT, FOR SOUTHERN CHINA.
AN
MISS ANNA WỤ, WHOM I CONGRATULATE,
MISS
ANNA WU:
THANK YOU, SIR.
GOVERNOR, IN YOUR
POLICY ADDRESS, YOU REFER TO YOUR COMMITMENT TO DEPEND FREE MARKETS AND TO ESTABLISH A COMPREHENSIVE COMPETITION POLICY FOR HONG KONG. MAY I ASK WHAT STEPS YOU HAVE TAKEN SINCE YOUR POLICY ADDRESS. TO SAFEGUARD CONSUMER INTERESTS AND TO BREAK UP CARTELS, IF ANY POLITICAL CARTELS BEING EXCLUDED, SIR?
/THE GOVERNOR