SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1985
UNDERSTANDING SOUGHT IN OVERSEAS PR EFFORT
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HONG KONG'S OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORT WAS AIMED ESSENTIALLY AT PROMOTING A CORRECT AND SYMPATHETIC UNDERSTANDING
AND OF ITS PROBLEMS AND ACHIEVEMENTS BY THE REST OF THE WORLD PARTICULARLY BY THE MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS, THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES, MR JOHN CHAN, SAID TODAY.
SPEAKING AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES ASSOCIATION OF HONG KONG, MR CHAN SAID HE FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT SUCH UNDERSTANDING WOULD BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENTS FOR HONG KONG'S STABILITY AND PROSPERITY.
+! ALSO FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS MUCH THAT MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES ASSOCIATION, AS MEN AND WOMEN OF STANDING IN THE IR RESPECTIVE PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESSES, CAN DO TO ENGENDER THAT INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING, HE TOLD THEM.
EACH YEAR, HE NOTED, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HONG KONG BUSINESSMEN TRAVELLED TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD DOING A MARVELLOUS JOB IN MARKETING THEIR OWN PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. + THE HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL AND THE HONG KONG TOURIST ASSOCIATION WORKED HARD TO DEVELOP NEW MARKETS AND TO ATTRACT FOREIGN VISITORS.
+AND THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT ITSELF HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT PART IN THE TOTAL OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORT BY PRESENTING THE FACTS ABOUT HONG KONG AND COUNTERING ADVERSE PUBLICITY GENERATED BY PROTECTIONIST LOBBIES INSIDE OUR MAIN MARKETS, + HE SAID.
MUCH OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS WORK HAD BEEN DONE +BENEATH THE SURFACE, IN THE SENSE THAT IT HAD NOT PRODUCED HEADLINES IN FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS.+
+THIS IS AS IT SHOULD BE. THE AIM OF OUR OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS IS NOT TO GET HONG KONG INTO THE HEADLINES OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS: INDEED, IF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOOD NEWS IS NO NEWS WHILE BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST, THEN PERHAPS THE SUCCESS OF OUR OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS SHOULD BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF THE ABSENCE OF REPORTING ON HONG KONG IN THE FOREIGN MEDIA,+ MR CHAN SAID.
THIS EFFORT, HE SAID, HAD LARGELY BEEN GEARED TO SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES, SUCH AS PROMOTING THE QUALITY AND VALUE-FOR-MONEY IMAGE OF THE +MADE IN HONG KONG+ LABEL OR TO ATTRACT FOREIGN BUSINESS INVESTMENTS, AND HAD BEEN TARGETED AT OPINION-FORMERS AND DECISION-MAKERS. OR AT THOSE WHO HAD THE MEANS TO BUY FROM OR INVEST IN HONG KONG,
AND WHILE THE NEWS MEDIA WERE IMPORTANT FOR ATTRACTING ATTENTION, THERE WAS NO REAL SUBSTITUTE FOR DIRECT CONTACT.