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External sources (not reviewed)

If the Government does not wish to repeat the history of the half-baked civil service reform in 1999, it must think twice before it acts.

Missile programs, including the Minuteman, Poseidon, Sidewinder, EKV and the RAM missile systems.

Recent years have also seen the productivity increases of the agricultural “Green Revolution” start to run out of steam, with concerns over prices of inputs such as fertilizers, water availability and competition for land also casting a shadow over the supply outlook — even as demand for food is projected to rise by 70 per cent by 2050.

But since the Administration’s announcement a month or so ago of its intention to rigorously curb property speculation, prices have adjusted downwards by 10%. So should this magnificent start by the Administration end in a poor finish for lack of any effective measures, I believe property prices will rise even more fiercely later because the public will have lost their confidence in the Administration’s sincerity in containing rising property prices.

Given that Hong Kong is wanting in even the most basic policies and measures, it is utterly impractical of the Chief Executive to expect Hong Kong to rise a status comparable to that of London and New York.

A number of delegations supported the elaboration of a worldwide standard, noting that the production and trade of pomegranate extended beyond the Near East Region and that there would be significant market potential in view of growing interest in this commodity in many countries.

The Latin America and the Caribbean region wants to establish that it values, recognizes and commends the Division of Relations with National Commissions and New Partnerships for its work and for achieving considerable improvements in communication, capacity-building and general support to the region.

[...] change and the enormous financial amounts [...]

I hope the Administration will maintain its firm stance to safeguard the interests of consumers and that it will not back down by "swatting the fly instead of hitting the tiger".

Some delegations highlighted specific reasons for retaining annual sessions: in view of the lack of resources for risk assessment in many developing countries, timely availability of Codex food safety standards was very important for use at the national level; participation in the Commission had a capacity building function for some countries; biennial sessions may need to be longer in order to address all items of work, which would create practical difficulties; and the considerable efforts made by governments to prepare themselves and participate in annual meetings should be taken into account.

[...] [...] magnificent start only to tailing off later.

It makes us worry that it will become another classic of Mr TUNG's habit of "announcing something great, but never following it through.

We can see that all these measures are well-intentioned, but we also notice that they lack thoroughness in terms of implementation and planning.

In spite of limited resources and difficult political conditions, the Government had been able to make major progress in building a modern State, and promoting and protecting human rights, in particular the right to education.

Although it is hard to predict at this stage whether or not the income from the box office and the sale of franchised goods will be able to cover the shortfall, I hope that the Government should not have a fine start and a poor finish in hosting the East Asian Games.