COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, attended the 2003 Leadership Summit and the 33rd International Hospital Congress in San Francisco in August. During his visit, he spoke at a business luncheon, on ‘Hong Kong: Ensuring a Healthy Climate for Business'. Dr Yeoh also met the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr Tommy Thompson, and the Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Julie Gerberding.
During the year, the New York HKETO continued to publicise Hong Kong at the various dragon boat festivals held in New York, Atlanta and Boston as well as at the Canoe 2003 World Championship held at Lake Lanier, Georgia. The Washington HKETO also organised a number of events to promote Hong Kong, including the eighth annual Made in Hong Kong film festival co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Gallery of Art.
In Canada, messages on Hong Kong's Economic Relaunch Campaign and the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) formed the main thrust of the Toronto HKETO's promotions across the country which, like Hong Kong, was seriously affected by SARS.
In recognition of the selfless medical and health care workers in Hong Kong and Canada involved in the fight against SARS, the office supported a nation-wide signature campaign organised by the alumni associations of the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the Hong Kong Baptist University in Vancouver and Toronto, with the backing of the HKTB, the HKTDC, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto and the Community Coalition Concerned About SARS in Toronto.
The Chinese media in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal also supported the two- week signature campaign by helping spread the message throughout the community. The campaign won the support of the Ontario Health Ministry, the Health Ministry of British Columbia and hundreds of major business corporations, chambers of commerce and trade associations, resulting in over 11 000 signatures being collected in support of the health care workers.
A Hong Kong Film Festival, entitled 'Gems from Asia's Hollywood- ·A Retrospect of John Woo' was launched in Toronto in early June as the first promotional event to relaunch Hong Kong in Canada after the SARS outbreak. Featuring a selection of eight of the best earlier works of John Woo, the series symbolised the 'Hong Kong Spirit' in overcoming adversity. The film festival was also held in Calgary and Vancouver.
The Toronto HKETO launched its first ever large-scale promotional event 'Hong Kong and Quebec City Friendship and Partnership' in Quebec City in August to inform the business community about Hong Kong's business opportunities under the CEPA framework. The popular promotion was extended to Montreal in October.
The Secretary for Justice, Ms Elsie Leung, paid her first official visit to Canada in November to enhance ties between Hong Kong and Canada. Her six-day visit covered Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver where she met government officials, think tank members, legal professionals, academics and local Chinese business and community leaders. The visit proved useful in updating Canadians on the successful implementation of the 'one country, two systems' principle, the rule of law and constitutional development in Hong Kong as well as the business opportunities created by CEPA.