MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 1976
HONG KONG CONTRIBUTES $100,000 AGAIN TO UNFDAC
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THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT TODAY (MONDAY) MADE A SECOND CONTRIBU- TION OF $100,000 TO THE UNITED NATIONS FUND FOR DRUG ABUSE CONTROL (UNFDAC), DEMONSTRATING FURTHER ITS SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD-WIDE STRUGGLE AGAINST NARCOTICS.
ON BEHALF OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT, SIR JAMES BOTTOMLEY, AMBASSADOR AND U.K. PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N. OFF ICE IN GENEVA, PRESENTED A CHEQUE FOR $100,000 TO DR. JACOBUS DE BEUS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNFDAC, AT THE U.N. HEADQUARTERS IN GENEVA.
HONG KONG'S FIRST CONTRIBUTION TO THE FUND, ALSO AMOUNTING TO $100,000, WAS MADE EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO. IT WAS THE LARGEST OF ALL CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED BY THE FUND FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES IN 1975 AND WAS EVEN LARGER THAN A NUMBER OF THOSE FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
COMMENTING ON THIS YEAR'S CONTRIBUTION, MR. E.I. LEE, COMMISSIONER FOR NARCOTICS, SAID IT INDICATED THE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT TO THE NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES WHICH PROMPTED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FUND, AND WAS A TANGIBLE RECOGNITION OF THE RESULTS WHICH HAD SO FAR BEEN ACHIEVED.
+ IN HONG KONG, WE RECOGNIZE THAT OUR DRUG ABUSE PROBLEM CANNOT BE SOLVED BY INTERNAL MEANS ALONE AND WE THEREFORE STRONGLY SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL ACTION, THE GROWING EFFECTIVENESS OF WHICH IS EVIDENCED BY THE INCREASING INTEREST BEING PAID ALL OVER SOUTH EAST ASIA TO INTER-REGIONAL AND INTRA-REGIONAL CO-OPERATION, MR. LEE SAID.
UNFDAC, ESTABLISHED IN 1971, IS NOW FINANCIALLY ASSISTING MORE THAN 50 ANTI-NARCOTICS PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD. AMONG THE PROJECTS ARE THE ANNUAL MEETINGS OF OPERATIONAL HEADS OF NARCOTICS LAW ENFORCEMENT BUREAUX IN SOUTH EAST ASIA, WHICH ARE PRODUCING POSITIVE RESULTS, AND THE FIVE-YEAR THAILAND/V.N. CROP SUBSTITUTION PILOT PROGRAMME WHICH AIMS AT SUBSTITUTING OPIUM POPPIES WITH OTHER CROPS IN THE +GOLDEN TRIANGLE+ REGION OF THE COUNTRY. OTHER UNFDAC ACTIVITIES INCLUDE TRAINING FELLOWSHIPS, DISSEMINATION OF INFORMA- TION ON THE WORLD SITUATION OF NARCOTICS, AND EXTENSIVE RESEARCH INTO METHODS OF DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT.
ACKNOWLEDG ING HONG KONG'S CONTRIBUTION, DR. DE BEUS SAID HE WAS PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL FOR THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT'S INTEREST
IN, AND CLOSE CO-OPERATION WITH, THE FUND.
HE ALSO NOTED THAT HONG KONG HAD BEEN MAKING ITS ANTI-NARCOTICS EXPERTISE AND FACILITIES FREELY AVAILABLE TO THE UNITED NATIONS BY PROVIDING TRAINING TO ANTI-NARCOTICS OFFICERS FROM ASIA, WHO WERE SPONSORED BY THE UNITED NATIONS OR ITS AGENCIES.
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