Press Release - April 11, 2003

Hong Kong needs overseas trained talents to meet its manpower needs to sustain its long-term economic and social development as a world-class city, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO), Mrs Rosanna Ure, said this evening (April 11).

Speaking at the start of a HK-Canada career video conference, Mrs Ure said: �These young people, with their exposure to overseas education and foreign culture, represent an enormous asset to Hong Kong in maintaining our cosmopolitan outlook and international networks.�

The cross-continent career video conference is the pilot initiative organized by the HKETO and the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in support of the recent Population Policy announced by the HKSAR Chief Secretary of Administration, Mr Donald Tsang, to attract and encourage foreign-trained talents back to Hong Kong.

Some 150 Hong Kong students studying in universities in the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario attended the video conference held from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Toronto time). They were well briefed on the career opportunities available in specific sectors in Hong Kong by distinguished speakers who also shared with them invaluable advice on the current situation in related job markets.

The video conference in Toronto was hosted by Mrs Ure. The Deputy Secretary of the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, Mr Raymond Young hosted the video conference in Hong Kong. Four distinguished guest speakers from the private sectors participated as panelists and shared their experience and insights with the students.

Expressing his gratitude to the guest speakers, Mr Young said: "Both the Government and the private sector realize the importance of human resources in the process of Hong Kong's economic restructuring. Apart from nurturing local talents, we also need to attract high quality Hong Kong students educated and trained overseas. I am glad that the private sector has been so supportive of this initiative.�

Guest speakers participated in the video conference represented various industries and sectors in Hong Kong. They were Dr Eden Woon, CEO, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce; Mr Charles Mok, President, Hong Kong Information Technology Federation; Dr Daniel Po-ming Chan, Senior Economist, Economic Research, Dao Heng Bank; and Mr Raymond Woo, Assistant Manager, ContaCX Project, Cathay Pacific.

�The video conference has proved an instant success. We plan to organize more activities of this nature across Canada on a regular basis with the support of the Bureau and the private sectors,� Mrs Ure said.

�We believe that the video conference would enable Hong Kong�s overseas students to have a better understanding of the city�s employment prospects and boost their confidence to return to Hong Kong to pursue their career.� Mrs Ure said.

University students who participated in the video conference came from the University of Toronto and York University in Toronto; University of Waterloo in Waterloo; University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario; McMaster University in Hamilton and Queen�s University in Kingston.

The video conference was live webcasted by Radio Television Hong Kong�s (RTHK) (www.rthk.org.hk) �RTHK On Internet�. The video conference will then be archived on its website for 12 months after live webcast. Meanwhile, Canada�s Fairchild Radio will arrange a recorded broadcast on April 14 (Toronto time) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at AM1430.



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