HK Economy Has Chances to Improve: Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, June 01, 2002

HK Economy Has Chances to Improve: Official

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Hong Kong's Economy will not be gloomy if it can focus on its advantages and capitalize on opportunities to serve the whole country which has been opening up,said the Financial Secretary Antony Leung Friday.

In an interview with Hong Kong English newspaper The Standard, Leung said, "I would say overall the mood is improving and we should be able to achieve our economic forecast this year, and chances are that we may have room on the upside."

As to economists' opinion that Hong Kong remained trapped in a recession, Leung said its a matter of how you look at it -- such as whether a glass is "half full" or "half empty."

The fact that we were restructuring meant we were moving to thenext level of higher value-added activities, he said.

Leung said Hong Kong's future lies in its role as the leading financial, logistics, tourist and business center and the opportunity was the fast-growing mainland economy, Hong Kong's hinterland.

Hong Kong should think about the impact of an open China, especially after its WTO entry, and work hard to improve the economic flows -- people, cargo, capital, information and services,making sure that Hong Kong's economic integration with the mainland was enhanced, he said.

Leung stressed in the interview that education is paramount, adding that the government should provide opportunities for everyone to continue improving themselves so that they could seizethe opportunities of the globalized economy.

He said, "Our population has not been properly educated and trained, because of the uninvestment of the previous administration, now we are suffering."

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