ENG-2008 — Page 416

340 Communications, the Media and Information Technology

through art exhibits, opera and dance performances and educational symposiums. The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, and the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, officiated at some of the events.

During the festival period, a 30-second vignette showing Hong Kong's cosmopolitan look and economic energy was broadcast on NBC Universal's Jumbo Tron in New York City's bustling Times Square and on video-screens in the city's yellow taxicabs.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, visited New York in May where he delivered a keynote speech about opportunities in Hong Kong for US financial services providers. Professor Chan also rang the Opening Bell at the New York Mercantile Exchange and met senior business executives and financial editors. He later attended a luncheon hosted by NYSE Euronext.

The ETO continued to promote Hong Kong films actively by taking part in film events in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York in collaboration with internationally known organisations such as the Harvard Film Archive. Hong Kong's popular animated film 'My Life as McDull' was entered in the 5th Chicago Animation Film Festival in Chicago. It also continued highlighting the Brand Hong Kong logo at dragon boat festivals held in Atlanta, Boston, Miami and New York.

The San Francisco ETO worked with NBC on a website to introduce Hong Kong as the co-host city for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events to internet browsers in San Francisco, New York, Washington DC and neighbouring

areas.

The ETO also helped to produce a half-hour film, 'Hong Kong Reins', which was broadcast in July and early August to viewers in the East and West coasts of the United States.

An NBC crew flew to Hong Kong to film the world-class facilities built for the competition and interviewed senior government officials and key personnel involved in organising the equestrian events. The programme was aired in the San Francisco Bay Area just before the start of the 2008 Olympics Games' opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8.

To build on the excitement of the lead up to the Games, three half-minute vignettes highlighting Hong Kong as the perfect host for international events were aired in the same cities for six weeks prior to the start of the Games. An 'Olympic. Viewing Celebration', featuring a Hong Kong booth and cultural performances was held in San Jose on August 8, attended by thousands of people.

To involve young people creatively in the Olympic excitement, the ETO partnered with the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper to organise an Olympic Equestrian Events poster design competition. The contest ran from May to June. The paper said afterwards the competition 'brought the Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Events to life' in the Bay Area.