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housing. For the present, therefore, it cannot be contemplated.

As you must be aware, housing absorbs a large slice of the

Since the public housing programme was launched

Government's budget.

in 1954, a total of 136 estates have been built providing accommodation

at well below market prices for nearly half a million families. Over

2.3 million people, or 43% of the population, now live in housing

provided or subsidised by the Government. Currently, some 124,000 flats

are under construction and many further estates are at the design or

planning stage.

of our human resources.

As important as the physical infrastructure, is the development

Over the last ten years we have systematically

reviewed each sector of education in Hong Kong. As a further step in

this process, the Government brought together an international team of

distinguished educators who conducted an overall review of education in

Hong Kong. Their report, which recommends initiatives and changes in

many fields, has now been oirouleted for discussion and comment among

our whole community. Personally I believe the question of education to

be of the highest importance for the future of Hong Kong. We shall not

maintain our place in this competitive world without a well educated

working population possessing appropriate professional and industrial

and technical skills; and we must maintain the great advantage which

Hong Kong enjoys of bilingualism in English and Chinese.

In Hong Kong, it is not only the public sector that provides

the infrastructure necessary to cater for economic growth and for the

rising standards of living for our growing population. We also depend

on the willingness of the private sector to continue to invest in the

generation of power, in the expansion of our container port, and similar

facilities. I am happy to say that, despite the recent slowdown in Hong

/Kong's economic