Developing Our Economy
30. My key mission as Financial Secretary is to maintain a favourable business environment, promote sustainable economic development, and make available diverse and quality jobs to enable citizens to lead better and more fulfilling lives. I must also ensure that Government has adequate resources to enhance social services and improve people's livelihood.
31. Technologies have brought economic globalisation into a new phase. Competition between economies has never been so fierce as potential customers became more accessible to enterprises all over the world. Only the fittest will survive, a reality that local enterprises have to face.
32. This new norm enables enterprises to adopt modern modes of production led by global supply chains and choose the most competitive partners from around the world. With Hong Kong's established position as an international financial, trading and logistics hub, our commercial sector is accustomed to utilising supply chain management. This gives them the opportunity to benefit from the ample room for development brought about by the close connections between regions.
33. In the face of such challenges and opportunities, we should seek to lay a solid foundation for long-term development in a pragmatic manner, and enhance our overall strengths step by step through adding value to traditional industries and developing diversified new industries.
34. Manpower mismatch is becoming more and more evident in Hong Kong in recent years. This, coupled with the imminent challenge of an ageing population, has directly hindered the sustainable economic development of our city. We must strive to overcome the constraints on our development potential and rise to the challenges together. Otherwise, our next generations will have to bear the price of our short-sightedness.
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