Press Release - April 6, 2004
The Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada), Mr. Bassanio So, met with the Toronto Mayor, Mr. David Miller, and the City�s Economic Development Committee Chairman, Councilor Brian Ashton, today (April 6) to exchange views on the latest developments of the two cities and possible areas for further collaborations.

Accompanied by his Deputy, Mr. Kenneth Cheng, Mr. So briefed Mayor Miller and Mr. Ashton on the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangements signed between Mainland China and Hong Kong, and encouraged Canadian companies in the Greater Toronto Area to take advantage of this new free trade agreement to gain faster access to the Mainland China market through co-operation with Hong Kong. He also invited Mayor Miller to lead a business mission to Hong Kong, as some of his predecessors did.

Mr. So also took the opportunity to invite Mayor Miller to attend Hong Kong Ballet's North America Premiere of �Legend of the Great Archer� in Toronto to be held at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on May 7 in support of Renaissance ROM�s China Initiative. This Hong Kong Ballet performance is the world�s first-ever full-length ballet to be accompanied by Chinese music created by award-winning composer, Mr. Kuan Nai-chung and played by the world-renowned Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

For further information, please contact John Tam, Chief Information Officer at (416) 924-5544, email [email protected] or
Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer, [email protected].