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representatives of the West Kowloon Cultural District Museum Plus (M+) and a Hong Kong gallery participating at the fair. It held its annual reception in the Swiss capital, Bern, in July and used the occasion to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
The Berlin ETO sponsored a performance by Hong Kong's City Contemporary Dance Company at the Asia Pacific Weeks 2011, organsied by the Berlin State Government. The performance was attended by more than 1 600 guests.
It sponsored a main session of the Global Finance Conference held in Frankfurt on November 17 as part of the Euro Finance Week 2011 Conference. The office also sponsored an exhibition stand at the conference to promote Hong Kong as China's Global Financial Centre.
The works of leading Hong Kong designers and others in the creative industry were exhibited in the Berlin ETO premises for nine months under the title 'Hong Kong: Creative Ecologies' to promote Hong Kong's design and creative industry.
The Berlin ETO played hosts to a number of senior HKSAR Government officials who visited Germany and neighbouring countries during the year. They included the then Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau; and the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Ms Julia Leung in March; the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau in May; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan in June; and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Stephen Lam in October.
North America
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington (Washington ETO) presented the 16th annual 'Made in Hong Kong' Film Festival co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.
In September, the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, visited Washington. In addition to attending the International Monetary Fund/World Bank annual meetings, he met the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, Dr Ben Bernanke; Under Secretary for International Affairs of the US Department of the Treasury, Ms Lael Brainard; and representatives of The Heritage Foundation, US Chamber of Commerce and international credit rating agencies to update them on the latest economic situation in Hong Kong and to exchange views on issues of mutual interest.
In November, the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, visited Washington where he met Senate Majority Whip, Senator Dick Durbin; Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Senator John Thune; and Deputy Secretary of State of the US Department of State, Mr William Burns, to update them on Hong Kong's latest developments.
Mr Tsang addressed a luncheon meeting jointly hosted by The Brookings Institution and the Washington ETO.