XN000022-1985-12-05 — Page 2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1985

BE PATIENT ON POLITICAL STRUCTURE, CS SAYS

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HONG KONG PEOPLE SHOULD BE PATIENT AND ALLOW TIME FOR REFLECTION AND ADJUSTMENT TO THE EXISTING NEW POLITICAL STRUCTURE BEFORE PRONOUNCING ON THE NEXT, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID THIS (THURSDAY) EVENING.

SPEAKING AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY, SIR DAVID SAID THERE WAS NOW AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TO, AND INTEREST IN, GOVERNMENT'S ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE, JUST AS THERE HAD BEEN GREAT CHANGES IN THE PHYSICAL FACE OF HONG KONG.

+THIS CONTINUING PUBLIC DEBATE AND ENDLESS PRIVATE

DISCUSSIONS WILL, I AM EQUALLY CONFIDENT, END IN A SATISFACTORY STRUCTURE EVOLVING, HE SAID.

SIR DAVID SAID THAT AT THE SAME TIME WE MUST NOT LOSE SIGHT OF ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS IN OUR SOCIETY WHICH WERE IN NEED OF DEEP THOUGHT AND ATTENTION.

THESE INCLUDED THE FUTURE COURSE OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT; THE EXPANSION OF TERTIARY EDUCATION: THE NEED OF THE SICK, THE OLD AND THE DISABLED; THE PLANNING OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT TO RESPOND TO A MORE SERVICE-ORIENTED ECONOMY, AND, ABOVE ALI. ELSE, GENERATING THE RESOURCES TO PAY FOR THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT WE HOPED TO ACHIEVE.

+SO MANY IMPORTANT PROBLEMS, SO MUCH TO BE DONE, TACKLING THEM, FINDING SOLUTIONS TO THESE PRACTICAL ISSUES IS ALSO AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE CONTINUING PROCESS OF BUILDING A STABLE AND PROSPEROUS SOCIETY, HE SAID.

SIR DAVID RECALLED THAT HONG KONG WAS DOWN IN THE DUMPS+ WHEN HE LAST ATTENDED THE ASSOCIATION'S DINNER THREE YEARS AGO.

+TODAY, JUST THREE YEARS LATER, THE STOCK MARKET HAS FOR SOME MONTHS BEEN OVER THE 1 600 MARK, DOUBLE ITS LEVEL THREE YEARS AGO.

+FOR OVER TWO YEARS THE HONG KONG DOLLAR HAS BEEN STABLE, THANKS TO THE INGENIOUS LINK TO THE U.S. DOLLAR, HE SAID.

PEOPLE WERE NOW ONCE MORE INVESTING IN ALL KINDS OF PROPERTY, AND MOST OF THE PROJECTS THAT DEMONSTRATED HONG KONG WAS STILL IN BUSINESS, SUCH AS THE ISLAND LINE, THE EASTERN CORRIDOR, THE TOLO HARBOUR HIGHWAY, THE NEW HONG KONG AND SHANGHAI BANK HEADQUARTERS AND THE ACADEMY FOR PERFORMING ARTS, WERE NOW THERE FOR ALL TO SEE, HE ADDED.

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