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"I spoke of a duty of leadership. It is a duty I and my colleagues in the Civil Service take very seriously. To put it simply, it is our duty to offer our community a clear description of what can be achieved and what we need to do to make our vision a reality."
Like his distinguished predecessor, Sir Hamish Macleod. Mr Tsang said he had made personal consultations with every Member of the Legislative Council a central feature of his budget preparations.
"In preparing my first Budget, I have continued this practice.
"The responsibility for the Budget is mine, of course, but the valuable contributions of Honourable Members have made my task a great deal easier. I am also grateful for the support and sheer hard work of my colleagues in the Civil Service in preparing my Budget." he said.
Mr Tsang said he had broken with Sir Hamish's approach in one respect.
"I want to make the Budget more accessible. I want to make it easier for the community, as well as for members of this Council, to get at the facts, the assumptions and the policy proposals which it contains," he said.
So, besides producing the entire set of budget documents in both English and Chinese for the first time, he had adopted a very simple, three-part structure.
In the first part. the Financial Secretary shall look back at the trends and developments which have shaped Hong Kong's economy and the way of life and brought Hong Kong people the prosperity they enjoy today.
In the second part, he will describe the current performance of the economy and look at the prospects for the year ahead.
In the final part. he will describe how, in the next century. Hong Kong can achieve its full potential as a world-class service economy.
End