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The Population Census Conference, an international event for professional statistical experts to share experiences, was successfully held today (March 25) by the Census and Statistics Department.
The three-day conference, with the theme "Changing Patterns of Utilisation and Analysis of Population Census Data", brought together more than 60 participants from over 20 participating countries and territories in America, Asia and the Pacific region to share methods, experiences and expertise in taking a population census.
Officiating at the conference today, the Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services), Ms Au King-chi, said that it was our determination to secure and nurture a quality population that supported and sustained Hong Kong's development as a knowledge-based economy and world-class city.
"Effective policy formulation relies on a good grasp of our population as portrayed by demographic and social statistics. The Hong Kong Government has been attaching great importance to 'mining' the wealth of information obtained from Population Census to support research into and analysis of economic and social policies.
"Population Census is a unique undertaking on a vast scale that provides the most complete picture of life in an economy.
"Be it the Government, investors, social organisations or the general public, they all look to credible information from the Population Census in meeting the coming challenges," she said.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Mr Fung Hing-wang, said, "From the first modern population census conducted in 1961, the upcoming 2011 population census will mark the 50th anniversary of census taking in Hong Kong. Over the years, there have been major statistical developments of Hong Kong relating to the undertaking of population census.
"In Hong Kong, we will re-engineer the upcoming 2011 population census. We will take particular advantage of the opportunity of this conference to exchange with the participants our initiatives on the various aspects of improving population census taking," he said.
The Population Census Conference is a biennial event hosted in different cities to provide a platform for senior members of national statistical offices in America, Asia and the Pacific region to discuss and exchange experiences in dealing with statistical challenges arising from various aspects related to population census taking.
This year's conference, the 24th in its series, was held in Hong Kong starting today.
Participants included not only heads and senior officers of national statistical offices but also representatives from relevant regional and international organisations including the United Nations Statistics Division, the United Nations Population Fund and the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific.
Topics covered in the conference included census evaluation and utilisation; new developments in census-taking; and analysis and dissemination of census data.
The Population Census Conferences were originally part of the East-West Center's conference programme in the USA. Since the 14th session of the series, all the Population Census Conferences have been conducted under the auspices of the Association of National Census and Statistics Directors of America, Asia, and the Pacific and hosted either by a census and statistics office in the region or by the East-West Center. This is the first time that the conference is hosted by Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:16
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