*********************************************************************

Following is a speech by the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, at the third graduation ceremony of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education today (November 27):

Chairman Yeung, Professor Lee, staff of the Institute, parents, graduates, ladies and gentlemen,

I feel very honoured to attend the third graduation ceremony of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education today. I am also very pleased to share with parents and staff and students of the Institute the joy of those who have completed their studies.

In response to the changes in the local economy as well as the developments in the business sector, the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) of the Vocational Training Council has developed a wide range of courses that meet market needs, nurturing talents required by different sectors of the Hong Kong economy. As Hong Kong is transforming into a knowledge-based economy, the ability to use information technology (IT) has become a basic and indispensable skill. To equip and prepare its students for their future career, IVE provides basic IT training for students of all disciplines, including those of non-IT-related programmes. This not only enhances the competitiveness of the graduates in a knowledge-based economy, but also provides important manpower to drive the economic development of Hong Kong.

Developing a skilled workforce is a very important factor for driving the development of information economy in Hong Kong. The Government published the updated Digital 21 IT Strategy in May this year, which strives to make Hong Kong a leading e-business community and digital city in the globally connected world of the 21st century. One of the key result areas of the Strategy is to develop our workforce for the information economy. We are implementing a series of initiatives to increase the supply of IT manpower and upgrade their quality, which include expanding our post-secondary programme, encouraging world-renowned IT training institutions to operate in Hong Kong, collaborating with internationally famous IT companies to provide professional IT training for local secondary students, provision of recognised skills assessment services for those in the IT profession by the IT Skills Assessment Centre of the Vocational Training Council, and organisation of IT assistant training courses and provision of other support to the industry by the Vocational Training Council, etc.

We hope that, through these initiatives, Hong Kong will have an adequate supply of skilled IT manpower to support our future economic development and scale new heights.

Apart from developing a skilled workforce, other key result areas under the Digital 21 Strategy include enhancing our e-business environment, building E-government, building a digitally inclusive society, and exploiting enabling technologies so as to develop Hong Kong into a leading digital city.

Ensuring an adequate supply of quality IT manpower is one of the factors critical to the successful implementation of the Strategy. In this respect, all the graduates here will have an important role to play. Although you have acquired a lot of knowledge in schools, graduation does not mean the end of learning. In fact, today's graduation ceremony only signifies the beginning of life-long learning. With the rapid development of technologies, a theory for success today may become outdated tomorrow. We have to move with the times through continuous learning to embrace the latest information and skills.

We have an excellent learning environment in Hong Kong. We have a wide variety of continuous learning programmes offered by the post-secondary institutions and private training providers, an advanced information infrastructure as well as user-friendly telecommunications and Internet services at affordable prices. Graduates may take suitable courses after work and make use of our advanced IT facilities to acquire useful skills so as to upgrade yourselves. I am sure, with dedication and good communications skills and leveraging your creativity and strengths, you will have a successful career.

Finally, I sincerely wish all graduates a bright and successful future, whether you are going to continue your study or start your career. Thank you.

End/Tuesday, November 27, 2001

NNNN