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Response to Policy Address

22 November 1999

The Hon Mr Tung Chee-hwa
Chief Executive
Chief Executive’s Office
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region
5/F Main Wing
Central Government Offices
Lower Albert Road
Hong Kong

Dear Mr Tung,

RESPONSE TO POLICY ADDRESS

We are writing with our comments on your Policy Address delivered on 6 October 1999.

We find much to welcome in the speech. We especially welcome the attention given to the environment. The environment has been sadly neglected by previous administrations, to the extent that pollution, waste and the destruction of our heritage have become major impediments to our economic and social wellbeing. The measures announced in your Policy Address will help combat these evils. We also welcome the emphasis on education. The education sector is unbalanced and does not adequately prepare young citizens for life in the community. The direction of the reforms described in your speech will surely improve matters.

We also welcome the statement of Government's Role in the Economy. We, as well as other commentators, have expressed concern at what appeared to be an increasingly interventionist stance by your administration, of which the Cyberport initiative, which involved the granting of land to a single company without normal tender procedures, was an example. Such policy, if carried further, would have led to major distortions and underperformance of the whole economy. The Policy Address leads Government back to what we believe is a more proper role: the focus on infrastructure and action where the market mechanism is not working properly.

The paragraphs on Constitutional Development are a welcome advance on the pre-existing position of your Administration. We note that the Address acknowledges the support in the community for a faster pace of democratisation and recognises that work must begin to build a consensus in the community on the next steps of constitutional reform. However, we believe that the need for reform is in fact urgent. As stated by Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew in his recent visit to Hong Kong, our present constitutional arrangements are not functioning adequately, and are a drain on the territory's overall wellbeing. We therefore urge that constitutional reform be accorded a higher priority by your Administration. For our part, we will do what we can to contribute to the process.

Two areas of the Policy Address in which we would like more to be done are as follows:

• The idea of Hong Kong as a "world-class city" seems an admirable one in that it sets a standard by which we can judge ourselves and seek improvement. However, the idea needs to be filled out with more substance. We look forward to more information on what the idea of a world-class city means.

• Privatisation is touched upon in the Policy Address, but briefly and cautiously, with reference to "in-depth studies and consultations" before any further steps are taken. We believe that privatisation is an essential element in developing a modern - indeed, a "world-class" - system of Government in Hong Kong. Government does not have to provide services itself, or even own the service provider. The more that can be done by the private sector, the more the scope for the natural development of the economy and the more easily the Government can focus on its essential role.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Lung Ka-lun
Chairman