In a brief email to the BBC, Mr Luo did not appear to be optimistic about the future.

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But whereas he was concerned about the future of the oceans that are so important to his country, he also said there were reasons to be optimistic about the future.

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All of these are grounds to be optimistic about the future of the universities.

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"All those reports pointed out there was good reason to be optimistic about the future and their faith is being borne out by the improvement in our performance, " he said.

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This may lead them to be less optimistic about the likely returns available from future investment, which bodes ill for a swift end to the slump in capital spending.

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He admits that a lot needs to be done but remains optimistic about the future.

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Nor, however wildly consultants draw their optimistic take-up curves, is the Internet going to be universal for the foreseeable future.

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Whisper it softly, but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about how the world's big companies will conduct themselves in the future.

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What makes me optimistic about the future is that we have not even begun to scratch the surface of all that can be accomplished by actually applying information technology pervasively.

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