In a show of solidarity, government officials, consuls general and business leaders packed into the Regal Airport Hotel Ballroom on June 7 for the "Business After SARS" joint business community conference.

While most people have put the SARS crisis behind them, the full economic impact of SARS will not be seen until the second and third quarters. As a result, Mr Tung said he expects to see sharp falls in the GDP growth figures in these quarters.

The strong GDP growth of 3.4 percent in the third quarter last year, 5.1 percent in the final quarter, and 4.5 percent in the first quarter this year, indicate that Hong Kong seems to have finally climbed out of the economic slump that it has been stuck in since 1997.

"The strong growth of our economy of the last three quarters shows us clearly that our economic policy has been in the right direction, that our economy is on the road to recovery, and that the painful economic restructuring that we have been going through is slowly but surely beginning to bear fruit," he said.

Businesses hardest hit by SARS -- the tourism, hotel, restaurant and retail sectors -- are also starting to recover following the lifting of the travel advisory by the WHO, the U.S. CDC and other countries. As a result, Mr Tung predicts the SARS impact on Hong Kong's economic recovery, though severe, will be temporary.

He said the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Hong Kong and the Mainland is another positive aspect to look forward to, adding that it will open up many new and exciting opportunities for Hong Kong in the service and manufacturing sectors. Similarly, arrangements for individual visitors from Guangdong Province to visit Hong Kong when finalised in July will boost tourism in Hong Kong. Add to these deflation and the price adjustments that we have been going through in recent years, plus the weakening of the US dollar, then Hong Kong's economic outlook looks promising.

This will add momentum to the Economic Relaunch Strategy Group, headed by the Financial Secretary, when it launches its comprehensive programmes to help revitalise the tourism, hotel, airline, restaurant and retail sectors.

"Team Clean," headed by the Chief Secretary for Administration, also has its work cut out for it. Phase I, a wide range of concrete measures to promote good personal and public hygiene and tackle the environmental hygiene black spots, is already underway. Come August, the team will present its long-term plan to sustain the effort and to create a cleaner, healthier look to Hong Kong's buildings, streets, alleys and public places.

And last, but by no means least, Hong Kong urgently needs to study what lessons have been learned since March in its efforts to fight the SARS epidemic so that we are better prepared in case the epidemic should come again in the winter or spring.

To this end, the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food is leading a SARS Experts Committee, made up of international experts to undertake a thorough review of the SARS epidemic.

"This is not an effort to find fault in individuals, but to seek out facts, to learn from the experience we have accumulated and those accumulated elsewhere so that we will be better prepared if there is a next time," Mr Tung said, adding that the review will be completed by September.