TNAG-2004-FCO40-2852-Hong-Kong-political-parties-1990 — Page 172

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increasingly well-educated and affluent. They are spending more on leisure activities. Even as we complain about rising prices, it only needs a walk round the

streets of Hong Kong to show how standards of living are

rising. This can be seen in the clothes we wear, the

food we eat, the homes we live in and the way we spend

our leisure time.

all

16. The key to our rapid economic growth has always

been making sure that we think ahead and put the

necessary investment into our infrastructure. The

re-birth of the entrepot trade with China; the new opportunities that this provides for outward processing;

and our emerging role as a major regional centre;

demand that we push ahead now with new infrastructural

projects, including a better port and a new airport.

Taken as a package these projects may seem expensive. But the economic cost of not building is far greater.

We would suffer an estimated loss of $100 billion over

the next 20 years if we failed to build a new airport and

simply allowed Kai Tak to become more and more congested.

This is far more than the cost of a new airport.

17.

The

Furthermore, these big projects break down into smaller packages, with investment by the private and

public sectors alike, and spread over many years. development of the port for instance is the natural expansion we need to meet growing demand. It will be phased to meet demand and most of the investment will be

from the private sector.

18. I am confident that as a community we can, and must, afford these major infrastructural projects. They are the seed corn for Hong Kong's future growth. do not plant now you, the succeeding generation, will have nothing to reap later.

If we

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