Hope is the most vital ingredient for the future as Bermuda faces the Millennium, Premier Jennifer Smith said yesterday.

"As Government, we know that the only way for Bermuda to achieve its maximum potential is to include every Bermudian on this journey into the future,'' she added. "Our success depends on everyone working together.'' Ms Smith -- speaking at the final meeting of the century of public service volunteer group Hamilton Lions Club -- said a child had asked her what she wanted Santa Claus to bring her for Christmas.

And she unveiled her wish list for Bermuda in the 21st century -- which included a booming hi-tech e-commerce sector to stand alongside international business.

She added she also wanted to see "instant results'' from the bid to revitalise tourism.

And she said she wanted every Bermudian to "feel as if they are a vital member of society''.

Ms Smith added: "We may be too old for the make-believe of Santa Claus, but there's no escaping the magic of spirits revived with the anticipation of the fact that a new year heralds new beginnings and with it a new opportunity to attain the goals missed during the preceding year.'' She said, however, that Bermuda still suffered from social problems which would continue.

"We will probably not be able to avoid taking some unwanted baggage with us into the 21st century, but the fact that we have not yet successfully concluded the war on drugs, the fact that poverty still exists, or that our prisons are still full should not deter us from looking forward to the future with confidence,'' Ms Smith added.

"Bermuda is unique both geographically and culturally -- we are blessed with wonderfully entrepreneurial and imaginative people and attract many diverse people to our shores for employment as well as leisure.

"So while we can't shrug off our problems on someone else to solve, they are solvable if we work together.'' And she praised the work of groups like the Hamilton Lions -- who she said gave all year round, not just at Christmas.

Ms Smith said some "so-called experts'' predicted that new technology -- like the Internet and e-commerce -- would lead to less face-to-face interaction and more isolation of individuals.

But she insisted: "I believe we will see a resurgence of cooperation and partnership in the year 2000 as people try to stem the overwhelming rapidity of change by holding on to those values of the past that transcend time.'' And she said: "Government has a clear vision of 21st century Bermuda. It is a Bermuda in which the social and political climate is supportive and nurturing while encouraging the education advances that will guarantee the Isl and's economic and human success in the next Millennium and beyond.''