More than 200 people, including business and community leaders and government officials in Calgary, today (February 25) attended a Chinese New Year Reception hosted by the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government, Mr. Donald Tong.

Those attending the reception - the first to be held in a major Canadian city after the establishment of SAR - included members of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Calgary), business and community leaders, government officials and academics.

In welcoming the guests to celebrate the year of the tiger, Mr. Tong revealed that the long term goals for the future development of the SAR had been drawn up.

"For example, the government is now working on a massive expansion of Hong Kong's domestic and cross-border rail networks that will exceed the scale of our US$20 billion new airport programme projects which will be completed this year," he said.

"These projects will generate employment for many years to come and add greatly to Hong Kong's economic growth in the next century."

In the past eight months after the handover, Mr. Tong added, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary - the three branches of the government - had functioned normally.

"We have to face the financial turmoil and the avian flu towards the last quarter. However, I am pleased to say that in true Hong Kong fashion we have now brought under control the spread of the avian flu and are on top of the financial crisis," he said.

"The financial turmoil has forced almost all Asian economies to devalue their currencies. However, Hong Kong has weathered the financial storm so far. I would like to put it beyond all doubts that the Hong Kong Dollar's linked exchange rate with the US Dollar will remain unchanged.

"Our Chief Executive Mr. Tung Chee Hwa and many senior Government officials have repeatedly said that this linked exchange rate has served us well over the past 14 years.

"It has provided the basis which Hong Kong has come through many international crises: the 1987 stock market crash, the 1992 exchange rate mechanism turmoil, the 1995 Mexican peso crisis and now the latest regional currency crisis crunch.

"The Hong Kong community and the World Bank have all given us full support in maintaining the linked exchange rate.

"Of course, our US$92.8 billion foreign reserves, the third largest in the world, and our healthy banking and financial systems as well as our strong economic fundamentals, have all played a vital role in enabling us to maintain the linked exchange rate," he said.

Mr. Tong admitted that the Asian financial turmoil was a blessing in disguise because it provided an opportunity to make adjustments to negative factors like soaring property prices and high inflation in Hong Kong.

He concluded: "I have full confidence that Hong Kong will continue to ride through these challenges as in the past and we will be amongst the first, if not the first, to rebound. We strongly believe that we have the capability, the public support and the will to overcome these difficulties."