XN000022-1992-08-04 — Page 5

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1992

OF

IS.

OVERWHELMED ECONOMIC IN MY AFTER

AS A NEWCOMER, I AM OBVIOUSLY DELIGHTED TO NEET SO MANY THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED TO MAKE HONG KONG THE SUCCESS STORY THAT IT AND AS A NEWCOMER, AS A NEW RESIDENT IN HONG KONG, I'M AS AS OTHERS HAVE BEEN, BY THE SOCIAL, THE INTELLECTUAL AND THE VITALITY OF THIS CITY AND THIS TERRITORY. I DESCRIBED IT, INAUGURAL SPEECH, AS 'ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD', AND DAY DAY I HAVE SEEN FOR MYSELF WHAT AN UNDERSTATEMENT THAT REMARK AMOUNTED TO.

WONDER OF THE WORLD' IN ONE VERY PRACTICAL SENSE WHICH ALL OF YOU. 'WONDER OF THE WORLD' BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF PLACES IN THE WORLD ACROSS ASIA ONE FINDS VIRTUALLY ALL OF WHICH ISN'T AT PRESENT FLAT ON ITS BACK ECONOMICALLY.

AFFECTS THE FEW

THEM

THE

IN EUROPE WE SEE COUNTRIES GRAPPLING WITH INFLATION, WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COSTS OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE, COUNTRIES WORRIED ABOUT COMPETITIVENESS AND A PREY, IN SOME TO PROTECTIONISM.

RESPECTS, WE SEE MUCH THE SAME PICTURE IN NORTH AMERICA: GOVERNMENTS WRESTLING WITH HUGE FISCAL DEFICITS, AGAIN CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR COMPETITIVENESS. LATIN AMERICA: COUNTRIES WRESTLING WITH CRIPPLING DEBT BURDENS. AND AFRICA. FACING GRINDING POVERTY,

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, DEBT, POLITICAL INSTABILITY.

IN

NOT THE STORY IN ASIA, AND NOT THE STORY AT ASIA'S ᎻᎬᎪᎡᎢ . HONG KONG. IN ASIA, WE'VE BEEN GROWING AT ABOUT THREE-AND-A-HALF TIMES THE AVERAGE GLOBAL RATE. GROWING AT THAT RATE, FIRST OF ALL BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN INCREASING OUR MARKET SHARE GLOBALLY, AND SECONDLY, BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN DOING MORE TRADE WITH ONE ANOTHER. AND BOTH THOSE THINGS ARE ABUNDANTLY TRUE OF HONG KONG. WE'VE MOVED UPMARKET, WE'VE BECOME A MORE SOPHISTICATED ECONOMY, WE'VE ADDED VALUE; WE'VE BECOME, THEREFORE, INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE, AND AT THE SAME TIME WE'VE AS A TRIGGER FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTHERN CHINA.

ACTED SO HONG KONG HAS BEEN BOOMING WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN FALLING BEHIND.

THAT DOESN'T JUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR PEOPLE'S STANDARD OF LIVING, IT ALSO HAS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIVES. BECAUSE WE HAVE A STRONG ECONOMY WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MEET MANY OF THE COLLECTIVE AMBITIONS WHICH OUR COMMUNITY SHARES. WE'VE SEEN A REVOLUTION IN THE STANDARDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING. WE'VE SEEN ASTONISHING CHANGES IN HEALTH, WITH DISEASES THAT NOT LONG AGO KILLED PEOPLE BY THE TEN THOUSAND VIRTUALLY ERADICATED. A COMMUNITY WHICH NOW HAS A BETTER CHILD MORTALITY RATE THAN THE UNITED STATES OR THE UNITED KINGDOM OR AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND. A COMMUNITY WHICH BECAUSE OF ITS STRONG ECONOMY CAN NOW SEND ON TO HIGHER EDUCATION YOUNG PEOPLE BY THE THOUSAND RATHER THAN BY THE HUNDRED AS WAS THE CASE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO.

OF IS

NONE OF THAT MEANS THAT WE CAN BE COMPLACENT. NONE OF THAT MEANS THAT WE DON'T HAVE NEW SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HURDLES TO CLEAR. SO HOW CAN WE TACKLE OUR NEW PROBLEMS WITHOUT LOSING THE ACHIEVEMENTS THE LAST FEW YEARS? HOW CAN WE DO THAT AT A TIME WHEN THE WORLD IN A WHIRLWIND OF CHANGE, AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE SEEING A MELT-DOWN WHAT WE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT WERE THE IMPLACABLE CERTAINTIES OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY? HOW CAN WE DO THAT AT A TIME WHEN WE ALL KNOW WE ALL REQUIRE GREATER SENSITIVITY AND GREATER SOPHISTICATION IN HANDLING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HONG KONG AND

PRC?

OF

THE

I THINK THAT WE SHOULD FOLLOW AT LEAST FIVE PRINCIPLES IN ATTEMPTING ΤΟ ENSURE THAT WE BUILD ON THE FOUNDATIONS THAT YOU AND OTHERS HAVE LAJD IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.

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