Hong Kong  - Law enforcement agencies will be put on "high alert" during the financial crisis to ensure that Hong Kong remains a safe city, government chief executive Donald Tsang said Saturday.

Tsang told a crime-prevention conference that the global economic slowdown had adversely affected the local economy and jobs, but that public safety would be a high priority.

He said Hong Kong had successfully overcome many unexpected challenges in its public health and financial systems in the past, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the bird flu and pneumonia epidemics.

None had any major impact on law and order in the territory, he said. (dpa)