ENG-1999 — Page 384

CHAPTER 18

Communications, the Media and Information Technology

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HONG KONG's long-standing position as a leading international centre in communications and the dissemination of information has been reinforced by the introduction of rapidly developing new technologies and opening up of markets in these fields.

In telecommunications alone, the liberalisation of the telecommunications market and the licensing of new services using advanced and innovative technology are expected to lead to further substantial investments, worth more than $20 billion, in the next five years. Similarly, liberalisation of the broadcasting market is expected to bring new investments in the order of $10 billion.

For its part, the Government has enhanced the public's access to information: an administrative code of practice on access to government information, committing the Government to even greater transparency in its work, has been in effect since 1995. The rights of the individual are also safeguarded. Legislation is in place on the collection, holding, processing and use of personal data. This legislation, based on international principles, is enforced by an independent data protection authority.

Hong Kong's media is among the most vibrant in Asia, and one new newspaper and 116 new periodicals joined the ranks of its flourishing free press in 1999.

The Mass Media

Hong Kong's mass media include 44 daily newspapers, a few electronic newspapers, 724 periodicals, two commercial television companies, a subscription television service, a regional satellite television service, one government radio-television station, and two commercial radio stations.

The availability of the latest in telecommunications technology and growing interest in its affairs have attracted many international news agencies, newspapers with international readership and overseas broadcasting corporations to establish regional headquarters or representative offices in Hong Kong. The successful regional publications produced in Hong Kong underline its strong position as a financial, industrial, trading and communications centre.

The Press

The Hong Kong press includes 24 Chinese-language dailies, nine English-language dailies, one bilingual daily and five in other languages. Of the Chinese-language dailies, 17 cover mainly local and overseas general news; three specialise in finance; and the rest cover entertainment news, especially television and cinema news. The