booming in Hong Kong -Lone only has to look at the rises in property prices in recent months 1997 is increasingly seen as a time of opportunity and looking forward not of retrenchment.
There may be a number of factors behind this. First there is the political dimension; the realisation on the part of the average Hong Kong citizen that both we and the Chinese government are fully committed to the implementation of the Joint Declaration.
Of course there will be differences of opinion and it is important that both sides should work to ensure these are
properly resolved.
There are also the very close economic links which have been developed between
between Hong
Hong Kong and China, in particular its neighbour, Guangdong province. It is very much in the interest of that wider economic grouping, and therefore of the Government of the PRC for Hong Kong to remain economically successful and, indeed, to develop its economic strength further. Hong Kong can provide the technical, management and financial skills necessary to accelerate the region's rate of development. There can be no going back from this. T The handover of administration in 1997 will, to a large extent, regularise what is already economic fact. It is one of our key tasks over the coming weeks and months to alert UK business to this mood of optimism and to ensure that British companies are well placed to take full advantage of the opportunities in this expanding market.
I speak to you just before the new Governor takes
up his appointment. I know that he will want to carry on the excellent work which David Wilson has done over the last five years to
prepare for the handover. In his time as Governor David Wilson
has built up an enormous fund of goodwill and affection in Hong Kong which he will pass on to his successor whose first priority will be a secure future for every Hong Kong citizen.
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