XN000022-1979-06-19 — Page 4

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1979

3

MY

*THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY IS THEREFORE TO GIVE ACTIVE SUPPORT TO COLLECTIVE INTERNATIONAL ACTION IN ALL FIELDS OF ANTI-NARCOTICS WORK,+ MR. LEE SAID.

HONG KONG GROWS NO OPIUM POPPIES AND PRACTICALLY ALL NARCOTICS ABUSED HERE COME, THROUGH THAILAND, FROM THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE+ THE OPIUM GROWING AREA WHERE THE BORDERS OF THAILAND, BURMA AND LAOS MEET.

IN THIS RESPECT, MR. LEE SAID, WE ARE ENCOURAGED BY THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF THE UNITED NATIONS/THAI CROP SUBSTITUTION PILOT PROJECT IN NORTHWEST THAILAND, AND AWAIT WITH CONCERNED INTEREST, THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST MAJOR EXTENSION WORK TO EMANATE FROM IT IN THE MAE CHAEM' WATERSHED AREA.

IN THE FIELD OF ANTI-DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT, HONG KONG HAS TAKEN PART FOR FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS IN THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FAR EAST REGION OPERATIONAL HEADS OF NATIONAL NARCOTICS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HELD IN BANGKOK, JAKARTA, MANILA, PATTAYA AND COLOMBO.

THESE MEETINGS, ALL FINANCED BY THE UNFDAC, HAVE BEEN MOST EFFECTIVE IN PROMOTING BILATERAL AND MULTI-LATERAL CO-OPERATION AND THE EXCHANGE OF OPERATIONAL INFORMATION AMONG PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES.

+AS A RESULT. COLLABORATION BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN REGION IS NOW WORK ING WELL AND HAS PRODUCED INCREASED SEIZURES OF DRUGS AND ARRESTS OF OFFENDERS,+ MR. LEE SA ID.

THE UNFDAC, ESTABLISHED IN MARCH 1971 FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENTS AND THE IR PEOPLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUG ABUSE, HAS FINANCED MORE THAN 80 PROJECTS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

FUNDING THE UNFDAC IS ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON CONTRIBUTION FROM GOVERNMENTS ALL OVER THE WORLD. UP TO THE END OF 1978, THE UNFDAC HAD RECEIVED CONTRIBUTION TOTALLING ABOUT $250 MILLION FROM 72 CONTRIBUTING COUNTRIES, OF WHICH ABOUT $125 MILLION HAVE COME FROM THE UNITED STATES.

14