Gordon said yesterday.

And -- of 111 pledges in Government's Blueprint for 1994-98 -- a total of 34 have been completed, while 64 are classed as implemented/recurring and 13 are ongoing.

Ms Gordon said: "I'm extremely proud because what we are able to manage is to take our philosophy, the commitments we made to the people of this Country and make good on them.

"We were able to convert the commitments into a practical working document so the Civil Servants were able to go about implementing the policies in the Blueprint.

"We're very pleased that we were not only able to stay on track, but we also had a myriad of other things we wanted to do which are also on course.'' And she added: "We were able to stay the course and keep the focus, in spite of all the changes we had in between the basic commitment to the people and that being honoured.

"For any Government, that's a good thing -- the UBP is a Government which gets things done.'' The Royal Gazette can reveal that of a total of eight categories outlined in the Blueprint, the biggest number of commitments came in the key areas of human and social advancement and the economy.

A total of 24 promises were made in the social field, headed by Health and Family Services Minister Wayne Furbert and 21 in the economic arena, steered by Finance Minister Grant Gibbons.

In people-based policy, the Blueprint update lists 11 initiatives as either implemented or recurring, 11 completed and two ongoing.

Dr. Gibbons has 14 of his responsibilities logged as implemented/recurring, five complete and two completed.

And Ms Gordon said that the new National Stadium -- where work has already begun -- was one of the most important projects which, although not complete, was well underway.

She added the concentration on social policy and the economy was not an accident, but part of her party's twin pronged approach -- keeping business buoyant and using the Island's prosperity to fund social programmes.

She added: "We had a social message which was sent to us very clearly by the electorate in 1992/93.

"We understand that, while it was important for Bermuda to maintain its position economically and maintain its viability to attract business, people wanted us to be more upfront with our social content and social programmes.

"And we have to have a strong economy in order to fuel and pay for programmes we put in place because we as a Government don't support income tax as such, so we have to keep the economy strong in order to deal with all the other aspects of our policies.

"Our over-riding concept and policy was of inclusion and our policy continues to be that of inclusion.'' Ms Gordon added: "For me, everything we promised is significant -- and it depends on which part of the spectrum you come from to determine what's more important to whom.

"For people more at the social end of the spectrum, it's important they're able to be Bermudian living in this Country and know that their needs are not ignored. We're talking about the people who are not fully able to care for themselves in the fast, cosmopolitan place Bermuda has become.

"And at the top end of the economy, we must make sure we have the policies in place to induce people to come to this Country to set up business because every business which comes to Bermuda brings Bermudians benefit from the jobs which have been created.'' Ms Gordon admitted that there had been criticism of the number of expatriates working in Bermuda.

But she said: "If we can create an environment which stimulates the economy and brings jobs to this Country which would otherwise not be here, it's something of a trade-off in terms of the varying number of expatriates who are required.'' But she added that her Government's weight had been thrown behind coming up with a top-of-the-class education system in a bid to prepare young Bermudians for senior posts.

Ms Gordon said: "We support Bermudians being given jobs -- but we support that in the context that they are the best-qualified. We don't say `even if you're not qualified you will get the job'.

"We don't want Bermudians to settle for less than they are able to do.'' Ms Gordon added that putting tourism back on track was also a priority -- both in terms of the general economy and the opportunities the sector could offer Bermudians.

Among the targets set for tourism were an increase in the number of air arrivals from the UK by 50 percent.

In 1997, air passenger numbers from the UK went up 6.23 percent on the previous year, while bednights went up by 6 percent.

And by May 1998, the number of UK air passengers went up 18.5 percent, with bednights going up by 16.1 percent.

Ms Gordon pointed to the successful seat sale by British Airways, designed to encourage business and holiday travel to the Island.

Ms Gordon said: "We are moving -- when the authorities cooperate with us, things happen. We've been trying to get prices down.

"This Government believes that there will be a knock-on effect from more people coming to visit and businesses being set up.''