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Following is a transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at a media session in Honolulu this afternoon (November 11, Honolulu time) after a meeting with President Hu Jintao:
Reporter: Mr Tsang, President Hu has congratulated you on your successful District Council Election. Do you think it's referring to the victory of the pro-government or the pro-establishment party? How would you interpret his remarks?
Chief Executive: It's quite clear that President Hu was referring to the high turnout rate of the district council election. He was rather pleased with the active participation of Hong Kong voters in this event. He did not comment on the outcome of the election at all.
Reporter: Mr Tsang, in the discussion session just now, you said that you anticipated a moderate recession globally. How would you prepare Hong Kong in the face of such challenges?
Chief Executive: I said it's a global slow-down in the economy, not necessarily recession. In Hong Kong's case, we've experienced similar set-back before. In 1997, 1998, there was a very serious Asian financial crisis. In 2008, we had this global tsunami. On both occasions, Hong Kong has been able to overcome these difficulties and came out stronger and more robust, in terms of our economic infrastructure and our competitiveness globally. At the same time, we have been able to prove that we are able to take care of our small-and-medium-sized enterprises and look after the livelihood of the people at the grassroots. So on this occasion, the world is so unfortunate that we have to face another slow-down. I am sure we are capable of producing the right measures to address these issues.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, November 12, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:25
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