Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said on Monday the government will discuss with the World Health Organization (WHO) and ask it to lift its travel advisory against Hong Kong as soon as possible.

SARS situations in Hong Kong have shown signs of stabilizing these days and the number of contracted patients fell down to the single digital over the past two days. Eight new cases was reported Monday, quite a big drop compared two weeks ago.

The WHO gave the travel advisory against Hong Kong on April 2 due to the serious SARS conditions. The warning has devastated Hong Kong's travel and tourism industry with around 40 percent of flights at the Hong Kong International Airport canceled in April while passenger numbers plummeted 60 percent.

Tung said at a news briefing that the WHO has its criteria and whether Hong Kong can persuade the organization to lift the travel ban "depend on whether we can continue to get the confirmed SARS cases further down."

Tung said anyone cannot treat the situation lightly and it is now crucial for the Hong Kong people to stick to their efforts to contain the disease.

Announcing the government's consideration to revive the economy and the social vibrancy, Tund said the government will, when the travel advisory is withdrawn, allocate a large sum of money to promote Hong Kong and make great efforts to restore the confidence and prosperity in Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2003)