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"Mr Suen will also set out the Government's position on the continuation of the reporting obligations under the ICCPR after the change in sovereignty."
In the meantime, the acting Attorney General, Mr Ian Wingfield, said today:
"The BORO is not supreme. It has the same status as that of other Ordinances. It puts into domestic law the provisions of the ICCPR; and it is the ICCPR, not the BORO, that is entrenched by the Letters Patent now and by the Basic Law after June 30, 1997.
"The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law both provide that the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and be implemented through the laws of the HKSAR.
"The BORO is entirely consistent with the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong. It does not in any way contradict the Basic Law. There is no reason to tamper with it.
"The amendments to various ordinances following the enactment of the BORO are also consistent with the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong. The continued application of the ICCPR after 1997 is provided for in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. There is therefore no reason to repeal any of these amendments as they are consistent with the Basic Law."
End/Monday, November 13, 1995
Estimates of HK's Gross National Product for 1993
The preliminary estimate of Hong Kong's Gross National Product (GNP) for 1993 is $909.8 billion, which compares with $899.9 billion for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the figures released by the Government today (Monday).
The ratio of GNP to GDP for Hong Kong for 1993 is 1.011. This is close to Japan (1.009) among industrialised economies, and to Singapore (1.014) and Taiwan (1.016) among newly developed economies.