The Hong Kong government has three priorities to relaunch the economy, which is stepping on the normal track when SARS virus is fading away, Financial Secretary Antony Leung said in Hong Kong Friday.
Leung made the remarks after a meeting of the Economic Relaunch Strategy Group.
He said the first area is to rebuild the confidence of Hong Kong.
"Clearly the most important effort is to contain the spreading of the disease and we have taken a lot of initiatives to promote and communicate the message that Hong Kong is now a safe place to visit, and going forward to communicate that Hong Kong is worth a visit," he said.
Leung said the Hong Kong government has already advertised internationally after the lifting of the travel advisory by the WHO.
"There will also be initiatives working with the citizens in Hong Kong, working with the various chambers to deliver positive messages effectively to build confidence in Hong Kong," he said.
Leung said the second area is to boost the local consumption and the third is to attract overseas businessmen, overseas investors and overseas tourists to come back to Hong Kong.
"But we will remain vigilant in containing the spreading of SARS and we will take measures to enable people, both overseas and locally, to recognize that Hong Kong will be a even cleaner and safer place," the financial secretary added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2003)
