The most newsworthy item relating to the Policy Address, strangely enough, was not covered in the 174-paragraph script. Instead, the Chief Executive opted to make the major announcement that Hong Kong is heading for two per cent economic growth for the second half of the year, only after he had finished his marathon speech. Mr Tung revealed the figure in the video highlights of his address, recorded on Tuesday and aired immediately after he had delivered the document in the Legislative Council. He later repeated the number in the opening remarks of his press conference in the evening. The administration had until then refrained from committing itself to such an optimistic prediction. The official line used to be that the SAR would secure growth of 0.5 per cent for the entire year. Hong Kong actually suffered a decrease of 3.2 per cent in terms of year-on-year growth for the first quarter this year. The percentage climbed to a positive 0.5 per cent for the second quarter. On this basis few would have expected Hong Kong to enjoy such a swift rebound for the second half of the year. It remains to be seen whether and how the two per cent target can be achieved. At the moment, many analysts simply remain unconvinced. Mr Tung has pointed to what he described as 'signs of turning the corner' for the economy. But he failed to offer any concrete figures to justify his observation in the three paragraphs dealing with 'Economic Recovery'. In the two previous policy addresses, Mr Tung had used a telescope to outline his visions including transforming the SAR into a regional hi-tech hub. Yesterday, he pulled out a microscope to show us detailed plans, ranging from how to manage vehicle emissions to sewage disposal. Some of these measures have already been reported, others could have been announced by the relevant department heads any day of the year. The English version of this year's address carries the subtitle 'Positioning Hong Kong for the 21st Century', which does not appear in the Chinese one. The text, however, does not quite live up to the grand heading. Given a choice, the public would probably be more interested to hear about Mr Tung's grounds for optimism rather than being overwhelmed by the nuts and bolts of daily administration.
