XN000022-1995-04-02 — Page 6

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So I think there is every reason to be cheerful when we look to the horizon. We should know that we can all, individually, make our mark. This great city was built up, created, in circumstances far from ideal. The citizens of this territory can keep Hong Kong great. They you can make a difference. We should believe the best of ourselves and expect and demand the best of China. I think China will respond. Will want to respond. So when I get asked after 1997, to write a letter to Hong Kong, still with its freedom of speech and still able to entertain every point of view, I believe that I'll still be addressing a free, prosperous, decent society, living with the rule of law - under a Chinese flag.

If the people of Hong Kong believe that, too, and want it to happen, it will. Because Hong Kong is a taste of the future not a left-over from the past. That is Hong Kong's achievement; no one can take it away.

End/Sunday, April 2, 1995

Postal system contract for new airport awarded

The Postmaster General, Mr M Pagliari, announced today that the contract for the provision and installation of a Postal Mechanization System (PMS) for the New Air Mail Centre at Chek Lap Kok Airport had been awarded to AEG Electrocom GmbH of Germany on April 1, 1995, at a cost of $187 million.

This is one of the government contracts awarded on the Airport Core Programme (ACP) for the new airport.

The Hong Kong Post Office is one of the biggest postal administrations in the world in terms of international mail volume, and ranks third in the world in terms of the volume of EMS (Speedpost) traffic handled. Airmail traffic, in particular, has been growing rapidly. For airmail letters and packets alone, a total of 135 million items were sent and 79 million items received in 1994, representing an overall increase of 11.7% over the previous year.

The PMS, which incorporates state-of-the-art technology in postal mechanisation, will serve to maintain the high quality of the airmail service in the face of the ever growing traffic and to achieve greater operational efficiency. The system consists of the most modern sorting equipment in the world for letters, packets, parcels and Speedpost items, a dedicated storage and retrieval system for mailbags and airline containers, as well as a comprehensive mail conveyance system.