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Following is the speech (English only) by the Acting Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at the unveiling ceremony of the 'Crown Worldwide Brand Hong Kong Fleet' at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this (December 10) afternoon:
Jim [Thompson], Selina [Chow], distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Good afternoon everybody. It is a great pleasure to join you today for this special Brand Hong Kong event.
Jim has been a great supporter of Hong Kong for many years and, more recently, of the Brand Hong Kong programme. He has been with me on numerous promotional trips for Hong Kong and on Hong Kong, I'm sure many of you have seen his handsome features on one of our Brand Hong Kong TV commercials. He was standing under the Tsing Ma Bridge and looked very wise and distinguished indeed. Our production company told us that Jim had real star qualities. So I'm sure if Jim ever gets out of the moving business, he can easily land a job in the movie business.
Today, I am very happy and privileged to welcome Crown Worldwide as an active and very visible participant in our programme to promote Hong Kong as Asia's world city. The launch of the Crown Worldwide Brand Hong Kong fleet is a tremendous example of how the private sector can promote the unique advantages of our city as the best place in Asia to do business, to live and to look for exciting opportunities.
In many ways Crown Worldwide epitomizes the spirit of Asia's world city - a progressive, free and stable society where opportunities abound and quality is premium. The company has grown with Hong Kong over more than 30 years, and now employs more than 300 people in our city. From humble beginnings, Crown has evolved into a global company with offices in 145 locations in more than 40 countries, but with its group headquarters here in Hong Kong. We certainly take that as a vote of confidence in our city, and the unique advantages we offer businesses from all over the world. And you certainly don't get to be in that position without progressive management that places the utmost importance on quality service, and also looks for and seizes new opportunities when they come along.
Crown's success is also a reflection of Hong Kong's success as the transport and logistics hub for Asia. We are one of the best-connected cities in the world - whether we talk about shipping lines, airline routes or telecommunications infrastructure. The efficiency of our port and airport is testament to the skills and acumen of the private sector. The deregulation of our telecoms industry has made it cheaper than ever before to manage information flows around the world - absolutely crucial for transport and logistics companies like Crown. And as a government we have also ensured that red tape is kept to a minimum to facilitate business. Our Customs clearing and declaration procedures are amongst the most advanced in the world, yet we maintain stringent checks to guarantee the integrity of those controls.
And we are working very hard to smooth the flow of people, goods and capital between Hong Kong and our hinterland cities in the Pearl River Delta. We are building new road and rail links to cope with increased cargo traffic. We are further streamlining Customs procedures. We are promoting Hong Kong's full range of business and financial services to companies wishing to take advantage of the PRD's manufacturing potential. And we are devoting greater efforts to cultivating our arts and culture scene to further reinforce our position as the most cosmopolitan city in Asia.
All of this dovetails with our positioning as Asia's world city. Since its launch in May last year, the Brand Hong Kong programme has helped provide local and international audiences with a clearer understanding of what we offer, as well as our unique advantages as a major city in China under 'One Country, Two Systems'.
The Brand has been used extensively in promotional activities overseas and in Hong Kong, either through events that we organise ourselves or through co-branding with major events such as the Rugby 7s, The Standard Chartered Marathon, The Fortune Global Forum, the International Air Cargo Forum, the Forbes Global CEO Conference, and the recently-held World Congress of Accountants and International Telecommunications Union Telecom Asia all of them co-sponsor and co-Brand Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific has branded one of its jets to carry the Brand Hong Kong message to the four corners of the globe. And we have branded Hong Kong icons such as the Star Ferry and the Hong Kong Tram to provide pervasive recognition locally.
Today, Crown Worldwide joins us in these ongoing efforts by unveiling a vehicle fleet sporting the Brand Hong Kong livery. Jim, we are very happy that Crown has taken such a keen interest in our Brand. We are very proud that the Brand Hong Kong dragon will get even more local recognition courtesy of your extensive fleet of vehicles.
Once again, Jim, thanks for all of your support and enthusiasm in helping me and joining us to help promote Hong Kong as Asia's world city. I certainly hope that our dragon will deliver you continued success, prosperity and unrivalled profits.
Thank you.
End/Tuesday, December 10, 2002
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