Let me say at the outset what a privilege it has been for me to serve as chairman of the Chamber in the two-year lead-up to this celebration of the 140th anniversary of its founding by a group of far-sighted business leaders back in 1861. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has a long and illustrious history and an unrivalled place in the annals of business, economic and social development in Hong Kong.

Your Chamber has played a key role not just in promoting business interests in a city whose business is business, but in advancing causes vital to the broader community as well. Along the way, it also has played an important part in shaping, and contributing to the governance of this place called Hong Kong, first as a British colony and now as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Not everyone involved in the development of Hong Kong, past or present, would necessarily agree with all the positions the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has taken over the years. Even within the Chamber, the decisions it comes to, the positions it takes on behalf of its members, the principles it stands for, are sometimes only agreed on after long hours of internal discussion.

What all would agree on, however, is that the Chamber has never been afraid to make a decision and have its voice heard on behalf of the whole Hong Kong community. And that when it does make a decision, take a position or outline a principle on some important issue or other, it does so in the best interests of Hong Kong and the local business community. This has been one of the great strengths of the Chamber over the years and one, I am sure, from which it will not deviate in the years ahead.

On that forward-looking note, it is vitally important to remember that anniversaries are not merely about celebrating any amount of longevity and the glories of past achievements, but about contemplating the future. There is little that we can do about the past, except to, hopefully, learn from it and perhaps rectify some of its wrongs. But the future belongs to all of us and the generations to come. It is ours to shape and theirs to inherit.

On the prospects for the longer-term future, I am extremely confident. The return of Hong Kong sovereignty to China, the continued opening of the Mainland to the world and the rapid advances globally in economic well-being, in trade and investment and in technology and science offer great opportunities for Hong Kong. My faith in the future of the SAR, of the Mainland of China and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce remain undiminished.

In closing, let me wish you all well for the future, both personally and in whatever business interests you pursue. At the close of the next Annual General Meeting of the Chamber on April 24, I will step down as its chairman, but I will maintain my links with the Chamber and a vital interest in all that it does in the future. I am confident that it will continue to live up to its modern mission statement, to promote, represent and protect the interests of the Hong Kong business community.