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Following is the welcoming speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the opening of the World Intellectual Property Organisation Asian Regional Symposium this (Monday) morning:

Mr Sabharwal, Mr Yu, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, I am delighted to welcome all of you to the World Intellectual Property Organization Asian Regional Symposium 1998. Hong Kong is honoured to co-host this prestigious Symposium and we are grateful to the World Intellectual Property Organisation for their decision to hold the Symposium here in Hong Kong. Our co-hosting of this Symposium symbolises the strong commitment of Hong Kong to the protection of intellectual property rights.

The proceedings of the next three days will focus on the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the context of implementing the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS for short) under the World Trade Organisation. Hong Kong is itself a founder Member of the World Trade Organisation and the subject of this Symposium is a very topical one. Enforcement of intellectual property rights is a matter of intense local interest here, especially recently.

Effective enforcement can only flow from good laws. Our set of laws on protection of patents, designs, trade marks and copyright works is one of the most complete and modern in the world. That, of course, is not enough in itself. Like many other economies, we face considerable challenges in our efforts to enforce these laws. Our population is densely-packed and our society is strongly commerce-oriented. We are a world telecommunications centre and a leading centre for film and television production. The demand for cheap pirated optical discs is considerable and this provides the incentive for piracy or counterfeiting.

But my Government is determined to protect the creative talent of Hong Kong people, and to encourage investment here by providing proper protection for the intellectual property of our many foreign investors. To achieve this, we are providing labour-intensive and highly professional policing of intellectual property rights. Our Customs and Excise Department operates an Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau specialising in the criminal enforcement aspects of intellectual property protection. Other law enforcement agencies in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region also contribute to this effort. Seizures of pirated optical discs in the first five months of this year alone have already exceeded seizures for the entire 1997. Vigorous action has also seen a high level of seizures of clothing and accessories bearing false trade marks.

While we can point to some success in our enforcement efforts, we are not complacent at all and realise only too well that continued vigilance is essential. To some extent, we are probably victims of our own success as a major, strategically-positioned trading centre and free port, with a minimum of bureaucratic red-tape for the honest trader. To reinforce our legislative and enforcement efforts, we need to do more in educating our traders not to take part in illegal activities which infringe intellectual property rights; and our general population not to demand cheap, pirated or counterfeit goods. We have now increased our efforts in this area substantially, reaching out to school students and the community to help them understand the value of protecting the fruits of their own creativity, and hence the importance of respecting and protecting the rights of the others.

In the next few days, distinguished guests and delegates will grapple with the technicalities of compliance with the TRIPS Agreement in the area of intellectual property enforcement. Apart from this, I would urge you to step back and take a broad view of the need to make a strong co-operative effort in educating the people of the Asian region to support the work of their governments. That is important. I wish you fruitful outcome to your three days' deliberations and a happy stay in Hong Kong.

Thank you very much.

End/Monday, June 1, 1998

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