Communications, the Media and Information Technology 393
Exhibitions on CEPA and the Pearl River Delta were staged and a number of cultural activities of ballet and film were featured at key cities across the country during the year.
To work closely with the Hong Kong students studying in Canada, the Toronto HKETO organised a career video conference, inviting Hong Kong business leaders to brief the students on career opportunities back home. The conference was well received by the participants from universities in Ontario and British Columbia. A special scholarship for Hong Kong-related studies was set up for MBA students of the international business program at the University of Alberta.
North Asia
The first half of 2004 saw two important developments in the bilateral relationship between Japan and Hong Kong. During the Chief Secretary's visit in February, the Japanese government announced the granting of visa exemption to all Hong Kong SAR passport holders visiting Japan. Cooperation in information technology and telecommunications was also given a boost with the signing of the Arrangement on Cooperation in Information and Communications Technology between Hong Kong and Japan in March.
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Four Principal Officials the Secretary for Home Affairs, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology also visited Japan during the year. These visits help to widen and deepen Hong Kong's network in the government, legislature, business, media, think-tanks, academia and the cultural sector of the community.
The Hong Kong Japan Partnership Roundtable (HKJPR), set up with the help of the Tokyo HKETO, provides a forum to foster public-private sector collaboration in promoting Hong Kong. An HKJPR mission organised by the Tokyo HKETO, in collaboration with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, was launched in 2004.
As part of the HKJPR's promotional efforts, the first Hong Kong Sedan Chair Race in Japan was staged in Yokohama with the support of a number of Hong Kong and Japanese organisations and community groups.
cultural mission
Under the auspices of the HKJPR, two other cultural projects to HK and an Ikebana Exhibition in Hong Kong were also organised.
South-East Asia
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Three Principal Officials the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology attended meetings in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to discuss a wide range of issues including the prevention and control of avian influenza, and Hong Kong's strengths as an international financial centre and capital formation centre for Mainland enterprises.