XN000022-1995-03-07 — Page 2

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Donald Tsang appointed Financial Secretary

The Government announced today (Tuesday) that Mr Donald Tsang will succeed Sir Hamish Macleod as Financial Secretary in September 1995.

Mr Tsang has very wide experience in the Government, having served in a variety of posts in the Civil Service for more than 27 years. He has had a particularly close association with finance and trade related fields in his career.

He was on secondment to the Asian Development Bank from 1977 to 1978. In 1981, he was sent to Harvard University, where he completed a Master in Public Administration specialising in economic affairs.

In recent years he has been Director of Administration, Director-General of Trade and has served as Secretary for the Treasury since May 1993.

Sir Hamish has been directed to retire in the interests of localisation. He was appointed to his present post of Financial Secretary in August 1991.

Commenting on the announcement, the Governor, the Right Honourable Christopher Patten, said: "Hong Kong owes a great debt of gratitude to Sir Hamish for his outstanding success over the past four years as Financial Secretary.

"He has managed the economy in a way which has earned the admiration and respect of both the local community and international investors; cutting taxes three times in a row while increasing investment in our social and physical infrastructure and boosting our reserves to a formidable level.

"Sir Hamish also left a distinctive mark on the two APEC meetings of Economic Leaders at which he represented Hong Kong. His tremendous knowledge of international trade issues helped to shape the historic agenda these meetings set for the economic opening up of our region into the next century.

"These achievements have crowned a brilliant career in the public service spanning almost 30 years and virtually every aspect of life in Hong Kong. He has been a wonderful colleague whose integrity and loyalty to Hong Kong have been an example to us all. I shall greatly miss him and his wise counsel."

Mr Patten said it was a reflection of the depth of talent and diversity in the civil service that the Government was able to find such an extraordinarily able replacement for Sir Hamish.