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The Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Mr Duncan Pescod, will leave for Bali, Indonesia, tomorrow (November 11) to attend the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Ministerial Meeting to be held on November 12 and 13.
This year, the APT Ministerial Meeting will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the APT, and deliberate on strengthening regional collaboration towards the broadband economy. Participating ministers will discuss at various sessions issues including measures to facilitate digital inclusion, improving the quality of life, and increasing efficiency in the convergence of technologies. At the end of the meeting, the ministers are expected to adopt a joint ministerial statement and a plan of action that would further strengthen regional collaboration.
On November 12, Mr Pescod will attend as guest-of-honour the opening ceremony of the Ministerial Meeting and give a speech at the session on "Connecting All: facilitating digital inclusion to drive the broadband economy".
On the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Pescod will hold bilateral meetings with the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Mainland to exchange views on matters of mutual interest. He will return to Hong Kong on Friday (November 13) night.
The APT is an organisation of governments, telecom service providers, manufacturers of communication equipment, research and development organisations and other stakeholders active in the field of information and communications technology. It now has 34 members, 4 associate members and 121 affiliate members.
Ends/Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:00
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