-
1-
Transcript of remarks by Chief Secretary
Following is the transcript of the remarks (English) made to reporters by the Chief Secretary. Mrs Anson Chan, at the airport this (Monday) afternoon before leaving for the United States:
CS: Very shortly, I shall be leaving on a seven-city tour to the United States. My first stop will be Seattle, and I'm going on to San Francisco. This is one of our major promotional tours. We've selected America again this year since America is one of our largest trading partners. The main promotional effort will be in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas. In addition, I will be visiting other cities including Washington where I will be doing some further lobbying on the unconditional extension of MFN to China.
I think the business community here can be assured that I shall be putting forward a very positive picture of Hong Kong, particularly about our future. At the same time, I'm sure that there will be questions and concerns put to me about how we are preparing for the transition. I shall deal with these questions in a frank manner, and I believe it is possible to do so and still be extremely positive about Hong Kong's future.
I will be bringing along with me as part of my delegation senior representatives of the business community here as well as members of the Trade Development Council and the Tourist Association.
Of course, in addition to stressing Hong Kong's advantage as a gateway to China, as a major regional centre here in Asia-Pacific region, I'll also be introducing other advantages of Hong Kong, in particular giving reassurance of the transitional arrangements.
This will be a rather longer visit than usual. I'll be away for three weeks and I expect to return to Hong Kong around the middle of June.
Question: Do you see your visit is trying to repair the damage that the Governor has seemingly done to the business community?
CS: I think the Governor has made it quite clear the purpose of his visit. He has done a first-class job in explaining Hong Kong's present position, both economic and social, how we're preparing for the transition. He has put across a very positive picture of Hong Kong, but at the same time he has had to deal with some serious questions and a great deal of scepticism on the part of the American people. And he has done so in a frank manner, but at the same time stressing that Hong Kong people will be handling the transition with their usual resilience and pragmatic view and that we see a bright future for Hong Kong.