No big impact: Financial Secretary Henry Tang says the Link Real Estate Investment Trust incident will not affect Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre.

Financial Secretary Henry Tang says the problems arising from the listing of the Link Real Estate Investment Trust will not affect Hong Kong's role as an international financial centre.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Housing, Planning & Lands Michael Suen says all the concerned parties are trying their best to solve the problems.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Mr Suen said no final decision has yet been made on the listing issue.

When asked whether the listing will be delayed, Mr Suen said the development is not that bad and he will try to work out a solution as soon as possible. 

Disappointed about the incident

Speaking on a radio talkshow this morning, Mr Tang said the market generally expects that the chance of the Link REIT being listed as planned on December 20 is 'relatively low' because there are a number of uncertainties ahead.

"Since the Housing Authority's privatisation plan remains open to legal challenges, it may affect the potential returns for investors," he added.

The Court of Final Appeal yesterday refused to force an early appeal from a public housing resident who is challenging the divestment of shopping malls and carparks.

Respecting the Court of Final Appeal's decision and the resident's right to have time to consider her appeal, Mr Tang said it is important to handle the matter in a rational and objective manner.

He was disappointed about the latest development and said some people made use of Hong Kong's legal system to turn the incident into a political issue.

Tax concession views being sought

Stressing the incident is an individual case, Mr Tang said the incident will not affect other Government privatisation plans as the Government will do a lot of preparation before their introduction.

Turning to Hong Kong's economic development, Mr Tang said this year's fiscal deficit may be smaller than expected because of the strong economic growth, adding that he is collecting views on the introduction of tax concessions.