About 96 per cent of last year's policy targets were met, Mr Tung said. Of 1,315 targets set by the Government last year, 43 per cent were completed, 50 per cent were on schedule, three per cent were under review and four per cent were behind schedule. Reasons for slippage included extra time needed for public consultation or legislative amendment, obtaining necessary funding and undertaking more detailed assessment of proposals. Unforeseen engineering problems had delayed infrastructure projects. In giving the progress report himself, Mr Tung broke with the past practice of having the Secretary for Administration deliver the report two days before the Policy Address. In his speech, he looked back on the two years since the establishment of the SAR. He outlined the challenges met and what the Government had achieved in a number of areas. He said Hong Kong had met two challenges - implementing the principle of 'one country, two systems' and riding out the Asian financial crisis. 'All these fundamental changes have taken place smoothly. At the same time, there has been no change in our economic and legal systems,' he said. 'Freedoms, including that of speech and of assembly, have been safeguarded.' He praised the Hong Kong Monetary Authority for a 'decisive and timely' decision to intervene in the market in August last year. He said the decision was exceptional and criticised at the time, but was correct. 'The worst is now behind us,' he said of the financial turmoil.
