ENG-1997 — Page 134

FINANCIAL AND MONETARY AFFAIRS

86

The World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings 1997

The 1997 World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings (the Meetings) were held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from September 23 to 25.

The Meetings were generally regarded as a great success, as reported widely in both overseas and local media and as evident from views expressed by the participants. They demonstrated Hong Kong's ability to organise a very complex event while meeting all the requirements of the two organisations. Hong Kong's hi-tech image was demonstrated through the provision of video walls, bar-coded access badges to improve security control and an electronic message system to facilitate communication among delegates. The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund were very satisfied with the arrangements. The 1997 Meetings set records for the number of participants registered and the coverage of topics discussed at meetings or seminars. A total of 19 500 participants registered and more than 200 formal meetings were held.

With the presence of about 300 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from some 180 member countries as well as other influential opinion-formers of the world in town, the Meetings provided a valuable opportunity for Hong Kong to showcase its continued prosperity and stability under the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle.

Companies Registry

The Companies Registry administers and enforces certain sections of the Companies Ordinance. It incorporates local companies, registers overseas companies, registers documents required to be submitted by registered companies and provides facilities for the search of company records. It also administers and enforces several other ordinances including the Trustee Ordinance, in so far as it relates to trust companies, the Registered Trustees Incorporation Ordinance and the Limited Partnerships Ordinance.

Since 1993, the Companies Registry has operated as a trading fund department. As a trading fund, the registry can keep part of its income and apply it flexibly, having regard to its needs, business turnover and its customers' demands and expectations. The 1996/97 financial year was the first year that the registry was able to meet its target rate of return, set at 10 per cent. The surplus reached a record high of $67 million, largely due to the significant increase in the number of company incorporations.

During the year, the registry continued to improve the quality of services delivered. In February 1997, public search services were improved by merging the ordinary search (searching the records of two to 10 companies) and the bulk search (searching the records of more than 10 companies) services to achieve a more effective and satisfactory service. At the same time, restrictions on the number of companies whose records could be searched on each occasion for ordinary search were removed. Several multi-purpose counters were set up to provide a one-stop shop for customers applying for and collecting microfilm. The registry launched its home page on the Internet in July 1997 and was designing an Interactive Voice Response System, scheduled to be introduced in 1998, to handle general telephone inquiries.