Budget Speech

Furthering Regional Co-operation

45.      In my last Budget I pointed out that the Government would play the role as a "champion" in furthering economic integration. We will continue to make the best of Hong Kong's modernisation and internationalisation, and capitalise on the "China advantage".

46.      Specifically, we can support the development strategy of the Mainland by further developing Hong Kong into a knowledge-based and high value-added economy. At the international level, the Mainland has been actively promoting quality growth and encouraging enterprises to reach out to the international market. Hong Kong can provide a platform for the Mainland's enterprises to expand overseas. We can also make use of our strengths to help these enterprises bring their management and technological standards closer to the international level. With our rich experience in international exchanges, we can assist the Mainland in building brand names and improving product image. Our service industries will emerge out of the process with broader scope and better standards. Our position as an international financial and commercial centre will also be reinforced.

47.      At the national level, the Mainland economy is becoming more and more market-oriented, industrialised and urbanised. This plays a crucial role in China's sustainable development and creates excellent opportunities for Hong Kong. Hong Kong can assist by attracting foreign investment, facilitating international exchanges and providing quality services that are essential to the restructuring and upgrading of Mainland's economy. This will help promote quality growth of the Mainland's economy. It will also increase the demand for Hong Kong services, thereby addressing the problem of our small local market.

48.      At the regional level, Guangdong is one of the best developed regions in China. It is also the vanguard of our country's reform and liberalisation, and its systems can most readily be aligned with international standards. Hong Kong and Guangdong enjoy geographical proximity, close cultural ties and a long history of co-operation, and yet differ greatly in such areas as resources and industrial structure. As such, there is ample room for the two places to increase co-operation. Hong Kong can speed up its integration with the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to increase the depth and breadth of the market in the region, creating synergy for the joint development of the two places.

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