Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa

Mrs Betty Tung

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for your very warm welcome and your kind words of friendship. May I, on behalf of my wife and delegation, express our appreciation to you and your Government, for the warm hospitality extended to us. I am very pleased to be back in Hong Kong. It has been almost three years since my last visit.

As I had expected, Hong Kong has rebounded from the Asian financial crisis. Financial Secretary Donald Tsang in his Budget Speech had forecast that Hong Kong’s GDP would grow at 5% this year and at 4% annually for the next four years. I believe he was being conservative. Public and investor confidence in Hong Kong is high as clearly shown by your booming stock market. The Hang Seng Index has reached new heights with the fervour in IT and technology stocks. The external economic environment is favourable as the Asian economies are on the mend. I am confident that Hong Kong will enjoy buoyant economic growth and higher levels of prosperity in the coming years.

Chief Executive

Singapore and Hong Kong have enjoyed always warm and close ties. In recent years, our bilateral relations have moved from an essentially economic one to a more multi-faceted and broad-based one. The frequent exchange of visits between Singapore and Hong Kong leaders, civil servants and businessmen testifies to the strength of our bilateral ties.

Those who say that Hong Kong and Singapore are competitors locked in mortal combat overlook one basic fact. And that is our economies are closely inter-linked. Singapore is Hong Kong’s 5^th largest trading partner. Trade between our two countries continues to grow. In 1999, bilateral trade stood at HK$60 billion or S$20.3 billion. Singapore’s direct investment in Hong Kong was HK$30 billion (S$10 billion) as at July, 1998. There are more than 100 Singapore companies in Hong Kong engaged in various businesses. Hong Kong and Singapore companies also collaborate freely. For example, Singapore companies including GLCs have formed consortiums with Hong Kong companies to participate in various property and infrastructure development projects.

On this trip, I will be inaugurating the South East Asia Lecture organised by the Singapore Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. South East Asia is recovering steadily from the Asian economic crisis and I want to add my voice to those who call on Hong Kong to engage in South East Asia more actively. The volume of trade between the 10 ASEAN countries and Hong Kong is huge. We are the fourth largest, sometimes the third, trading partners of Hong Kong only after China, Japan and the US. This fact highlights the importance of our economies to each other.

Singapore’s ties with Hong Kong, built over several generations, are broad and significant. I am convinced that we can use these bonds to advance our mutual interests.

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen

May I now invite you to join me in a toast to the health and success of Chief Executive Tung and Mrs Betty Tung, to the peace and prosperity of the people of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and to a closer and enduring friendship between the governments and people of Hong Kong and Singapore.