HKSAR Government Holds Reception to Mark Labor DayThe government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) held a reception Tuesday at the Government House to mark the Labor Day.About 500 representatives from various sectors were invited to attend the reception. They include trade union leaders, representatives of employers' and trade associations, labor- related boards and organizations and training institutions. Delivering a speech at the reception, Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the SAR, said Hong Kong must promote IT, speed up education reform and expand opportunities for the youths to receive tertiary education, to maintain its competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Tung said Hong Kong has recovered strongly from the Asian financial turmoil, with a GDP growth of 10.5 percent and unemployment rate falling steadily from the peak of 6.3 percent to 4.6 percent last year. According to the latest figures available, net inflow of U.S. portfolio investment into Hong Kong amounted to 5.3 billion U.S. dollars in the year up to October 2000, the highest in Asia. In 1999, Hong Kong received 23 billion U.S. dollars direct foreign investment, the second highest in Asia after the Chinese mainland, he added. Tung pointed out that the bursting of the bubble economy, globalization of trade, the rapid advent of IT and the fast growth of cities in the mainland have speeded up a new economic restructuring in Hong Kong. "China's accession to the WTO and the globalization of trade will promise new opportunities and challenges for Hong Kong," he said. "Through tripartite collaboration between employers, employees and the government, I am sure we will scale new heights," he said. |
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