The Macau Special Administrative Region held a gala banquet tonight to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

The anniversary banquet was held at the Forum where the ceremony marking the establishment of the Macau SAR took place on December 20 last year.

The Chief Executive, Mr. Edmund Ho Hau Wah hosted the banquet attended by guest of honour President Jiang Zemin, Vice Premier Qian Qichen, delegation members of the Central People¡¦s Government and the Hong Kong SAR government, consular corps and community leaders. More than 600 guests were presented at the dinner.

The Chief Executive started his speech "on the eve of the first anniversary of the founding of the Macau Special Administrative Region, we feel extremely honoured by the kind presence at this banquet of our state leader, President Jiang Zemin. First of all, may I be allowed, on behalf of the Macau SAR Government and all the citizens of Macau, to extend our warmest welcome and highest regards to President Jiang Zemin and Mrs. Jiang, Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and Mrs. Qian, and all the delegates from the Central Government".

"Over the past year since the establishment of the MSAR, we have attained fairly good social order and solidarity, overcome some problems and challenges, and have achieved overall stability and healthy growth. In accordance with the Basic Law, and in consideration of the reality of Macau, the MSAR Government has adopted the policy strategy of"Consolidating the Foundations and Developing Steadily"and made some achievement. On the whole, the people of Macau, with hard work and dedication, have made this historic first year of the MSAR rich and fulfilling" he added.

The Chief Executive also said, "this good beginning would not have been possible without the full support of the Central Government. So I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Central Government".

"It is important for me to stress that the smooth and successful implementation in Macau of the "One Country, Two Systems"policy is a manifestation of the great wisdom of Mr. Deng Xiaoping's concept, the strong leadership of the third generation of leaders of our country headed by President Jiang Zemin, and of the achievement of unity of the Chinese nation. We must have a strong sense of commitment to our country and to history, carry on our patriotic tradition by loving our motherland and Macau, truthfully perform our duties well, and scale another height of success in the practice of "One Country, Two Systems", "Macau people administering Macau" and of the "high degree of autonomy of the MSAR", the Chief Executive concluded.

Meanwhile, Vice Premier Qian Qichen said in his speech " a year ago, we witnessed the historic event of the return of Macau to the motherland and the establishment of the Macau SAR. Today, we are very happy to get together again to warmly celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR".

"Since the establishment of the Macau SAR a year ago, a gratifying and encouraging new atmosphere appeared in Macau's social, economic and many other fields. The Macau SAR Government is vigorous, the public security is getting remarkably better and the economy has resumed growing. Facts have proved and will continue to prove that the people of Macau can fully manage Macau's fair well" he stressed.

The Vice Premier announced that President Jiang Zemin would deliver an important speech tomorrow morning at the meeting in celebrating the anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR.

"I believe, with the full support of the Central Government and the people of the whole country and with the joint efforts of the people of all walks of life in Macau, the Government of Macau SAR headed by Mr. Ho Hau Wah will surely unite with all Macao compatriots and constantly achieve new and greater successes in the new century" concluded the Vice Premier.

Following his speech, Vice Premier Qian and the Chief Executive proposed a toast to all guests present and expressed their wishes to a more brilliant future of Macau.