It is my privilege to welcome you all to the Housing Conference 1996. It is an honour for the Housing Authority to host this Conference and a great honour for me to address such a distinguished audience from around the world.

There is no doubt that public housing in Hong Kong is one of our success stories. Half of our population now lives - and lives well - in public housing. In the early days of public housing many of our tenants could barely make ends meet. Happily, times have changed. Around 80% of the occupants are renting and about 20% buying their own homes. The low rents and the stable public housing provided a security which enabled the occupants to work hard to launch the Hong Kong economy. As Hong Kong has prospered, our tenants have prospered, and they and their children now contribute in many ways to the Hong Kong community.

Hong Kong public housing has come a long way from its humble and urgent beginnings after a disastrous fire in 1953. Nowadays the Housing Authority plays a multiple role with building design, construction, management and maintenance all under one roof. Our philosophy is also to help all those who can afford it to become home owners. We shall in the next 5 years be building more than 280,000 new housing units. Almost half of these will be for sale.

As we approach the 21st century, we are still faced with many challenges. There are too many people in inadequate private housing still waiting their turn on the public housing Waiting List. There are still far too many people in temporary housing or squatter areas longing for permanent homes in public housing. Clearly, with the shortage of land in Hong Kong, we have to think of ways to recycle the existing stock. We have to encourage those tenants who have become well-off to graduate to home ownership. We also have to work closely with the private sector in the delivery of housing services.

Today as we strive for improved quality and standards, we aim to be more responsive to the customer. Well aware of the key role we play in the Hong Kong of today and tomorrow, we value more than ever our partnership approach with the community. As a public body we have a duty to the community. We also need the full support of the community as we endeavour to raise the living and environmental standards. We have always maintained the necessity of partnership and participation. Consultation with the public is our practice before policies are formulated. We have set up tenants' committees in our rental estates. More recently, we have improved our enquiry and complaint functions, adopted the government Code on Access to Information and endeavoured to become more open and accountable. That we have to face protests and demonstrations from time to time, as you can see as you come in, indicates that the public are taking seriously their right to participate and to express different views.

As we strive for continuous improvement, we are keen to learn from our counterparts all over the world. To this end, we welcome many visitors, professionals and experts from countries far and wide who come to exchange ideas or to stay with us for attachment. The Authority annually sends delegations overseas to absorb new ideas. A valuable pool of international experience can be built up this way from which we can all benefit.

The Housing Conference 1996 is a gold opportunity for valuable international exchange. The occasion will allow for sharing of ideas among policy-makers, practitioners, academics and interest groups from different cultures. Together we will thrash out some of the most difficult issues the housing field is facing. I must thank you all for participating in the Conference. In particular, I would like to thank the Governor of Hong Kong and the Secretary for Housing for their support, and our co-hosts - the Hong Kong Institute of Housing, the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - for making this occasion a success. I also thank all the sponsors for their generous contributions. Last but not least, my very special thanks to the Executive Committee chaired by the Director of Housing, Mr. Fung Tung. Without the hard work of the Director, the Advisors and members of the Executive Committee, the Conference would not have become a reality.