We have of course also established close business ties. Canada was Hong Kong's fifteenth largest trading partner in 1998. Reciprocally, Hong Kong was Canada's seventh trading partner in 1997. I have no doubt many of our education projects will offer excellent opportunities for more businesses between the two places. The 1999-2000 budget has just been passed by the Legislative Council two weeks ago.
Education remains the biggest single item of public expenditure.
Despite the current economic downturn, I am pleased to say that total expenditure on education will grow by 7.9 per cent, compared to an estimated GDP growth of 0.5 per cent in real terms for the coming year. The increase for basic education will be even more significant, i.e. 11 per cent. All these are testimony to the strong commitment and importance we attach to education, which provides the foundation for the development of our society. The Government's huge investment in education offers many opportunities for individuals and businesses, both local and overseas, to join us in collaborative efforts to continuously upgrade the quality of education for our young generation. Hong Kong students face a unique language environment, and our policy is to enable our students to be biliterate and trilingual.