-if Hong Kong is to continue to expand economically when Kai Tak
reaches capacity by 1995, we need a new airport;
--if we are to welcome more visitors to Hong Kong after Kai Tak has
reached capacity, then we need a new airport;
if we are to relieve the long-suffering residents of Kowloon who have aircraft flying in and out of their laundry all day, then we need a new airport;
-if we are to remain an international and regional centre of aviation, as promised in the Joint Declaration, then we need a new airport; and the new airport and its related projects will open up a thousand hectares of land for development-a development boom that could add 1% to our annual GDP growth.
The case for a new airport is overwhelming. It will be an airport, not for Britain, but for Hong Kong and for Southern China. It deserves to be built. And it will be built. Everyone knows that.
35. We have set out our plans. We have spelt them out in detail. We have explained how we will finance them. We have explained too that the airport will not be financed at the expense of key social programmes: as you will realise from this speech, we have been as good as our word on this. Together the Airport Authority and MTRC will raise loans on world markets in order to relieve the burden on public funds. It is not without good reason that the MTRC has earned itself a worldwide reputation as a responsible borrower with a strong credit rating. In Hong Kong, we know a thing or two about these matters. We will plough the fruits of development back into construction of the projects themselves. And we shall be drawing on our own considerable experience in completing such projects on time and in the most cost-effective manner possible.
36. But I have said before, and I repeat today, that I will not be judged on whether in 1997 I fly out for the last time from Chek Lap Kok. I remain convinced that if we discuss the airport on its merits, then our very able negotiators could sort things out in a morning, perhaps even with a break for coffee. I very much hope, therefore, that we shall be able to resolve the latest difficulties in short order. I will work my hardest to do so. If in the event we cannot achieve the break-through we need, and if because of that the timetable slips, the costs rise and I have
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