ENG-2000 — Page 435

COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

international trade show 'Locations 2000' held in Los Angeles in February. The Hong Kong booth won the 'Most Informative Booth' award in the show.

The Entertainment Special Effects Ordinance was enacted in June to establish a new regulatory system governing the use of dangerous goods in the production of special effects in film and television production and theatrical performance. Its subsidiary legislation was introduced into the Legislative Council in December. The new regulatory system, tailor-made to meet the operational needs of the industry, will come into effect in March 2001.

The $100 million Film Development Fund, which was established in 1999, provides financial support to a wide variety of projects that can enhance the professional and technological capabilities of the film industry so as to strengthen its competitiveness. By the end of the year, a total of $23.5 million had been approved for 15 projects to promote the development of the local film industry. They included training courses, seminars, a consultancy study, an opinion survey, an awards presentation ceremony for Hong Kong films as well as participation in overseas film festivals.

To encourage infrastructural investment in film production and to sustain Hong Kong's growth as a major film production centre, a site in Tseung Kwan O designated for film production facilities was put out for tender in March and the tender was awarded in August. This followed the award of another site designated for film production use in August 1998.

Postal Services

Hongkong Post provides reliable, efficient and universal postal services at reasonable prices to meet the needs of Hong Kong and its international postal obligations. Since August 1, 1995, Hongkong Post has operated as a trading fund department. This gives it a higher degree of flexibility in resource management and enables it to respond more effectively to changes in markets and customer needs, improve productivity, efficiency and customer service, and introduce new services to its customers.

During the year, Hongkong Post handled 1.34 billion items of mail, or an average of 3.7 million items per day, representing an increase of 5.7 per cent over 1999. Some 83.9 per cent of the items processed was local mail and 16.1 per cent overseas mail. Some 11 680 tonnes of letter mail and 2010 tonnes of parcels were dispatched overseas by air, representing an increase of 5.5 per cent over 1999. The United States, the Mainland, the United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan were Hongkong Post's major partners in letter mail while Japan, the United States, Canada, the Mainland and Taiwan were its major partners in parcels.

Performance pledges are published for the delivery of mail, philatelic, counter and public certification authority (CA) services. In 2000, Hongkong Post achieved a very high performance in most of its pledges. In particular, it achieved a record successful rate of 99 per cent in next day delivery of local mail.

In March 2000, an independent firm was appointed to conduct the fourth annual public perception survey on Hongkong Post's services. The overall satisfaction levels remained high, with some 96 per cent, 95 per cent and 97 per cent of customers in the general public, business and philately group respectively being satisfied or very satisfied with Hongkong Post's services.

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