"In respect of education, female students made up 54.3 percent of our tertiary institutions' graduates last year, up from 50.4 percent in 1997," Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Tung Chee Hwa said Friday.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the Women's Commission Conference 2002 on Friday, he said: "On employment, amidst the economic difficulties in the past five years, the women labor participation rate saw a rise of 2.8 percent, from 47.9 percent in 1997 to 50.7 percent in 2001."
Representatives from Hong Kong, Chinese mainland, Canada, the Philippines and the United States attended the conference on " Women for a Better Tomorrow", one of the activities to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China which falls on July 1.
"Women perform equally well with men on both educational attainment and intelligence if they are given a fair chance and an equal opportunity. We must make full use of the opportunity of the advent of the knowledge-based economy to promote and enhance the economic and social well-being of all women," said Tung.
(China Daily May 11, 2002)
