12th World Productivity Congress Opens in Hong Kong

12th World Productivity Congress Opens in Hong Kong

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The 12th World Productivity Congress, under the theme of "Creating Wealth in the Connected Economy", opened Tuesday in Hong Kong's Convention and Exhibition Center.

Hong Kong and Beijing, jointly representing the People's Republic of China, will host this year's congress. It will be held from Tuesday to Friday in Hong Kong and from Saturday to Sunday in Beijing.

About 1,500 international speakers and delegates from over 40 countries and regions attended the forum addressing contemporary strategies, innovative approaches, new principles and best practices in productivity development to enhance competitiveness.

To open the congress, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee Hwa delivered a speech. He said the congress has "a very timely theme" as countries and communities all around the world are rethinking and reshaping their strategies in the face of new challenges brought about by the globalization and the dawning of the knowledge-based era.

Six plenary sessions on "the Role of Innovation", "Facilitating Infrastructure", "Sustainable Development", "Restructuring for Development", "Rethink Strategy" and "Achieving World-Class Competitiveness" were held during the first-day meeting.

Among the speakers are Jin Renqing, commissioner of State Administration of Taxation who deliver a key-note speech on "Reform of Taxation System Upon China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO)"; Xie Zhenhua, director of State Environmental Protection Administration, who spoke on "Green Strategies of China"; Ma Songde, whose topic was "Science and Technology as the Primary Productivity".

Other sessions on "E-Enterprise Transformation", "Green Productivity" and "Opportunities and Challenges of China's Entry into WTO" will be held during the next two days.

The biennially WPC is a major event of the World Confederation of Productivity Science, and this year's congress was co-organized by the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Chinese Association of Productivity Science and the China Productivity Centers Association.