Hong Kong to Host ITU TELECOM ASIA 2002The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) announced Thursday that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has accepted an invitation from the People's Republic of China for Hong Kong to host ITU TELECOM ASIA 2002 from December 2 to 7, 2002.In support of the ITU TELECOM ASIA 2002 in Hong Kong, the Central People's Government signed a Host Country Agreement for the Event with the ITU, supplemented by a Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements signed between the HKSAR government and the ITU. A signing ceremony was held at the ITU's headquarters in Geneva Thursday, with Qiao Zonghuai, Chinese Ambassador to the International Organizations in Geneva, representing the Central People's Government of China, and Yoshio Utsumi representing the ITU. At the same ceremony, Anthony Wong Sik-kei, Hong Kong's director-general of telecommunications, representing the SAR government, signed the memorandum. ITU TELECOM ASIA 2002 will encompass an International Telecommunication Exhibition and a Special Session of the World Telecommunication Forum. The exhibition will display the latest telecom technologies and services whilst the forum will address the latest telecom issues relevant to the region. "We are delighted with the ITU's acceptance of PRC's invitation to hold ASIA TELECOM again in Hong Kong in 2002," said Carrie Yau, secretary for information technology and broadcasting of Hong Kong. "The previous Asia Telecom held in Hong Kong last December was described as ITU's biggest ever regional ITU Telecom event to date, and attracted over 50,000 participants, 500 exhibitors, 600 VIPs and 800 journalists," she recalled. Asia TELECOM is a prestigious regional telecommunications event organized by the International Telecommunication Union on a regular basis. Hong Kong participates in ITU's activities as part of the delegation of the People's Republic of China, which is a member of the ITU. |
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