COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
The sub-division is also responsible for the production of the Hong Kong Government Home Page, known as the Government Information Centre, which is accessible to millions of Internet users world-wide.
Visits Division
The Visits Division sponsors and invites VIP visitors, including politicians, parliamentarians, officials and business people from countries with close relations with Hong Kong, to visit the territory. It co-ordinates their visit programmes and briefings with the aim of improving their understanding of Hong Kong.
The division has a programme under which arrangements are made for senior government officials and prominent local personalities to address targeted audiences overseas. These programmes are complemented by participation in international seminars, cultural activities and other events. The division also co-ordinates high- level missions overseas.
Administration Division
The Administration Division provides administrative, personnel and financial support services for the department.
Hong Kong Image Overseas
A key objective of the government's information policy is to project an accurate image of Hong Kong overseas. With the growing international interest in Hong Kong, the government and leading private sector organisations have joined hands in expanding their public relations programme and promotional activities overseas.
Overseas Offices
The government's overseas public relations efforts are concentrated on Hong Kong's major business partners in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. This work is carried out through the Hong Kong Government Office in London and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOS) in Washington, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Brussels and Tokyo. Two new HKETOS were opened during the year in Sydney and Singapore to strengthen economic and trade links in the Asia- Pacific region. An HKETO is maintained in Geneva to deal with Hong Kong's international trade issues under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organisation. It also liaises with the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
These offices (with the exception of Geneva) provide general news and information services, present promotional events, brief the media and work with GIS to produce news releases specifically for their different audiences. The offices also monitor media coverage and parliamentary proceedings or congressional debates on issues of interest to Hong Kong.
The overseas offices also advise and assist GIS and other departments in drawing up programmes for VIP visitors, such as policy-makers, government officials, politicians, opinion leaders and journalists, to enable them to learn more about Hong Kong, its interests and interrelationships with the world community. They work closely with the 'Hong Kong family' (Hong Kong-related organisations) to encourage and sustain positive interest in Hong Kong and to generate a greater understanding of the issues affecting the territory.
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