XN000022-1990-01-16 — Page 16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1990

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FOREIGN SECRETARY GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE

THE FOLLOWING 18 A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS. MR DOUGLAS HURD, TODAY (TUESDAY):

MR HURD: I'VE HAD A MOST USEFUL AND ENJOYABLE VISIT HERE AND I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE IN HONG KONG WHO HAS BEEN KAND AND COURTEOUS IN THE WAY THEY HAVE MET ME AND THE WAY THEY HAVE RECEIVED ME. IT'S BEEN. AS I SAID, MOST ENJOYABLE. AND 1 WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE MEDIA WHO HAVE BEEN PRESENT ON EVERY OCCASION, AND THEN OTHER OCCASIONS AS WELL. FOR THE WAY IN WHICH THEY HAVE PUT THEIR QUESTIONS.

I WANT TO SAY JUST A BRIEF WORD OF INTRODUCTION. I DON'T WANT то UNDERPLAY THE ANXIETIES WHICH I HAVE FOUND, WHICH YOU WILL BE QUESTIONING ME ABOUT, WHICH CERTAINLY EXIST AND WHICH HAVE BEEN REFLECTED IN MANY OF THE THINGS WHICH PEOPLE LIVING AND WORKING HERE HAVE SAID TO ME. BUT ACTUALLY, THE MAIN IMPRESSSION I WILL CARRY BACK TO LONDON THIS EVENING IS NOT ONE OF THE ANXIETIES AND THE PROBLEMS, ALTHOUGH HONG KONG HAS MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF PROBLEMS. I KNEW HONG KONG A BIT 30 YEARS AGO. OR 25 YEARS AGO, AND OF COURSE I KNEW THAT IT HAD TRANSFORMED ITSELF SEVERAL TIMES SINCE I WAS LAST HERE WITH MRS THATCHER, BUT 1 HADN'T ENTIRELY BEEN PREPARED FOR THE IMPACT OF THOSE CHANGES ON THE VISITOR. THIS IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST MODERN CITIES; A FABULOUS SKYLINE. A FIRST-CLASS TRANSPORT SYSTEM, A PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME SECOND TO NONE AND FAR SUPERIOR то MOST BEING OPERATED IN EUROPE. IT IS THE WORLD'S 11TH LARGEST TRADING ENTITY AND RANKS JUST ABOVE THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, A COUNTRY WHICH HAS OVER SIX TIMES HONG KONG'S POPULATION. THAT MUCH, EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM KNOWS.

WHAT I HADN'T ENTIRELY BEEN PREPARED FOR WAS THE PLANS TO TRANSFORM HONG KONG YET AGAIN. I'VE BEEN BRIEFED ON THESE, AND 1'VE FLOWN OVER THE NEW TERRITORIES AND THE ISLANDS, AND SEEN THE SCALE OF WHAT 13 PROPOSED. A NEW AIRPORT WITH A CAPACITY FOR 80 MILLION PASSENGERS A YEAR. THAT IS MORE THAN HEATHROW AND GATWICK TOGETHER, ARL HANDLING NOW, A PORT DEVELOPMENT WHICH WILL TAKE HONG KONG FROM ITS PRESENT POSITION, WHEN IT IS ALREADY THE WORLD'S LARGEST CONTAINER PORT, TO A POSITION WHERE IT WILL BE MORE THAN FIVE TIMES ITS PRESENT SIZE EARLY IN THE NEXT CENTURY. 250 MILES OF NEW ROADS, UP To 10 MAJOR NEW TUNNELS, SEVERAL NEW TOWNS, AND PUBLIC HOUSING FOR TWO MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS. I'M TOLD THE SIZE OF THESE PROJECTS 15 UNIQUE IN THE WORLD TODAY. AND THIS 1SN'T JUST PIE-IN-THE-SKY, MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF COMPANIES AND BANKS LINING UP TO JOIN IN THE REST. THIS WILL AGAIN TRANSFORM HONG KONG, AND IT WILL ALSO TRANSFORM THE PEARL RIVER DELTA REGION OF CHINA; AND THIS SEEMS TO THE NUB.

ME

/THE PEARL