Overall, the Chief Executive's 2000 Policy Address delivered last month adopted a down-to-earth approach towards tackling certain issues. In the absence of ambitious reform objectives -- as made by the Chief Executive in the past three years -- this year's Policy Address focuses on policy adjustment. However, little concrete has been said on promoting economic development, bar a few generalisations.

Speed up support to SMEs
As mentioned in the Policy Address, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have long been a pillar of Hong Kong's economy. They account for more than 98% of all local enterprises and employ more than 1.39 million people. Nevertheless, SMEs have been hard hit by the economic recession over the past two years and many of them are still looking at bankruptcy. In addition, financing problems also hinder the development of SMEs.

In his Policy Address, Mr Tung suggests three new government initiatives to help SMEs: "helping to start a new business," "helping to build a new business," and "helping to expand a business." But these initiatives cannot be pursued until the government receives proposals from the SME Committee members within six months after their appointment.

As a result, it is expected to take at least one year before specific measures will be rolled out, which is too late to address the immediate needs of SMEs struggling to survive now.

Therefore at the question & answer session with Mr Tung in Legco, I proposed that the SAR Government accelerate measures to support SMEs to help them recover and boost the local economy as a whole. I will continue to follow up this issue and reflect your opinions to the government.

Implement human resources policies prudently
I agree with the government's initiative to review visa application policies for hiring foreign professionals on the grounds that importing more mainland and overseas professionals -- not readily available in Hong Kong -- will undoubtedly benefit the whole economy. In recent years, many countries have started to compete for talented people. Singapore, the rival of Hong Kong in particular, attracts talent by simplifying the application procedures and offering attractive remuneration packages. It is thus necessary for Hong Kong to enhance its attraction to talented people by reviewing its visa application policy, or it may fall behind.

I generally support the training and retraining initiatives in the Policy Address although the effectiveness of some of them is questionable.

The effectiveness of the retraining effort has always been disputable. Even the Office of Ombudsman criticised the employment rate of retrained students. In fact, I think in-service training is more important than retraining, but now the latter receives more support and attention from the government. Whether the government is effective in allocating resources and in nurturing suitable people for the commercial sector deserves our concern.

In my opinion, the government's aim to increase the overall rate of secondary school leavers receiving tertiary education is too ambitious. Relevant authorities may rush to pursue the targeted rate at the expense of education quality. What concerns me most is the impact this programme may have on the English standard in Hong Kong, which has been declining in recent years. If the situation continues, the status of Hong Kong as an international financial and trade centre will definitely be affected. The SAR Government should give precedence to education quality over quantity, and ensure that resources are effectively deployed and suitable talent is provided for the business community.

Strengthen assistance to businesses
Along with China's imminent accession to the WTO and its strategic development of western China, a multitude of business opportunities and sharp competition will no doubt emerge in the mainland. The SAR Government should retain professional consultants to conduct full-scale studies and analysis on the opening timetable of various sectors in the mainland, and to give advice to the government on where Hong Kong businesses can grasp business opportunities. This can help Hong Kong businesses enter markets ahead of the timetable. Besides strengthening the role of Hong Kong SAR's Beijing Office, the SAR Government should also set up economic and trade offices in major mainland cities to enhance Hong Kong businessmen's knowledge of the local business environment and the legal systems of particular regions.