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Japanese Minister Praises Hong Kong
Japan's foreign minister praised Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa on Sunday for engineering a strong economic recovery after the recent Asian financial turmoil.
Yohei Kono, meeting Tung in Hong Kong after attending the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok, was quoted in a government statement as saying that he was impressed by Hong Kong's recovery under Tung's administration.
The statement also quoted Kono as saying that Hong Kong, being a major international city and a gateway to China' mainland, would make an important contribution to the region.
For his part, Tung emphasized the importance of Japan's economic recovery to Hong Kong, the statement said.
Hong Kong's economy emerged last year from a deep recession brought on by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Growth has been fueled by a dramatic turnaround in exports and a modest recovery in domestic consumption.
The territory's economy grew by 14.3% in the first quarter from January to March.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Donald Tsang said the government would likely boost its forecast for gross domestic product in 2000 based on the April-June quarterly figure, to be released next month.
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