small measure a reflection of its close links with the UK and our
shared traditions and outlooks.
economies
committed to
For both Britain and Hong Kong are
economic success based upon free and open markets. It is this
tradition of openness which has provided the historical
foundation for Hong Kong's present. It will also be the
cornerstone of Hong Kong's future. And that is how we should be
looking at 1997. Not in a backward, nostalgic way. Change comes
and goes. It is part of the pattern of human development. But
rather looking forward to the challenges of the future. Hong Kong
has never in the past shirked such challenges. I am sure it will
not do so now.
For what is Hong Kong today? It is, as I have said, an economy
heavily dependent upon trade as a motor for domestic economic
development. It is committed to securing that development within
an open global trading environment where goods and services can
exchange freely and competition is not distorted by barriers to
trade. It is an economy which is internationally open and
which recognises the
fundamentally private sector driven;
importance of enterprise and individual endeavour. Is there any
work force in the world more energetic than that in Hong Kong?
There you have the basis of Hong Kong's success; of its strategic
role within the global trading environment.
Yet within that environment Hong Kong is a player of many parts.
at the core, is Hong Kong as a market of 6 million people,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.