The Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Works), Mr Lo Yiu-ching, will lead a high-level delegation to attend a cross-boundary construction conference in Dalian tomorrow (August 16).
The 147-member delegation comprises developers, contractors, consultants, academics, government officials, engineering and legal professionals as well as other private enterprises relating to the real estate sector.
Entitled "2004 Mainland and Hong Kong Conference on Development of Construction, Real Estate and Professional Services", the conference is an annual event organised by the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau and the Ministry of Construction (MOC) to foster ties and exchanges between Hong Kong and Mainland construction sectors.
The conference will explore business opportunities and facilitate technology exchange, development and co-operation of professional services between Hong Kong and the Mainland with the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) agreement.
This year will bring together the largest number of participants, 147 from Hong Kong and 122 from the Mainland, to the conference since the implementation of CEPA. In line with the Central Government's strategies to develop provinces in the northeast, the conference will provide an arena for the delegation to obtain first-hand information on business opportunities there.
In the three-day conference, the Hong Kong delegation will table some 55 technical papers. Fourteen of them, on topics including control of private architectural development, provision of professional services in urban sewage treatment, urban planning, reuse and treatment technology of sludge, building technologies, building maintenance and safety and issues relating to real estate will be selected for presentation in the plenary sessions.
The Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the National Administration Board of Architectural Registration will also take the opportunity to hold a ceremony in which certificates will be presented to those candidates who have acquired relevant qualifications under the mutual recognition agreement for architects signed by the two sides in February this year.
Senior government officials from both sides including Mr Lo Yiu-ching and the Vice-Minister of MOC, Mr Liu Zhi-feng, will be the honorary witnesses of the presentation ceremony.
After the conference, about 25 members of the Hong Kong delegation will go on a study tour to Harbin where they can see for themselves the latest economic, planning, infrastructural and real estate developments. They will also explore opportunities for business co-operation in these areas between the two sides.
Ends/Sunday, August 15, 2004
NNNN