Hong Kong and Vienna today (Friday) signed an agreement for the two parties to enhance collaboration in the field of environmental affairs.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed this morning by the Acting Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Patrick Lau Lai-chiu, representing the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau, and the Special Envoy of the Mayor of Vienna for International Economic Affairs and President of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Senator President Walter Nettig, representing the City Planning Bureau of the City of Vienna.
At the signing ceremony, Mr Lau said that the two parties have identified a number of areas as priority issues for further co-operation which include waste management, climate protection, corporate environmental management, protection of air quality and waste water treatment.
"In these and many other areas, we hope to learn from the experience from Vienna in tackling various environmental issues. We also hope to offer useful information in return." Mr Lau said.
"This MOU will cover a period of five years, and can be renewed thereafter as appropriate." He said.
Under the MOU, Hong Kong and Vienna will provide each other with information on environmental issues and on significant environmental research, monitoring, socio-economic impact, regulatory and policy elements of their respective programmes.
The Environmental Protection Department and the City Planning Bureau of the City of Vienna will be the co-ordination offices responsible for the management of the programmes in the various areas of collaboration.
The Director of Environmental Protection, Mr Robert Law; and the Austrian Consul General, Dr Helmut Boeck, attended the signing ceremony.
End/Friday, May 14, 1999
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