Press Release - May 20, 2009

At a press conference held today to announce details of the 2009 Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Canada, Ms Maureen Siu, briefed Canadian government representatives, corporate sponsors, business and community leaders and media representatives on some of the forthcoming events to be held in Hong Kong.

Attending the eye-dotting of the 2009 Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival, Ms Siu said some of the major events being held in Hong Kong included the Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games (December 5 to 13), the on-going Hong Kong Food and Wine Year, and the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race in 2010. Ms Siu invited the guests to visit Hong Kong and experience the city's dynamism while attending these exciting events.

The two-day dragon boat race, to be held on June 21 and 22 in Centre Island, will see some 150 teams competing for the championship. As one of the event supporters, HKETO will present a "Hong Kong Cup" to one of the winning teams. HKETO will also set up a booth at the site to promote the Hong Kong 2009 East Asian Games and the Hong Kong Food and Wine Year.

Organised by the Toronto Chinese Business Association, the festival is one of the most popular community events in Toronto and is expected to attract over 120,000 people.

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For more information, please contact: Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416)924-5544 or email: [email protected]

Click here to download a Chinese version of this press release in PDF format.