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The following is a speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, at the Hong Kong Design Centre annual awards gala dinner today (December 3):
Victor (Mr Victor Lo, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to join you at the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) annual awards gala dinner. First of all, congratulations to all the award winners, and a warm welcome to all our Mainland and overseas guests who have come all the way to participate in the Business of Design Week (BODW) and witness the happy moments of the HKDC awards presentation.
Design is about people working to produce better solutions for the world, so people are the core of design. A good designer can turn ideas into tangible and attractive offerings for customers. We also need visionary CEOs to champion and integrate design into the business process. To ensure we have good design talent to propel the development of our design sector, it is essential that we celebrate those who excel.
The HKDC awards provide the optimal occasion for this purpose. Since its inception in 2003, the awards have grown both in depth and breadth, and now cover five award categories which give due recognition to extraordinary personalities who contributed much to the design sector with their creativity and vision. Among them, the Design for Asia Awards recognise good designs that are most influential within Asia. The World Outstanding Chinese Designer honours designers of Chinese heritage who display great achievement within their own discipline and devote themselves to the furthering of design. The Design Leadership Award acknowledges the achievements of strong corporate leaders who have developed and applied design to achieve exceptional business success. And the Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards aim to discover up-and-coming young designers and design students who are eager to explore the international design horizon.
This year, a new category is added to the HKDC awards: the Design for Asia Student Awards. This new category extends recognition to students who understand that creative collaboration across disciplinary boundaries is essential to innovation.
I wish to applaud the Hong Kong Design Centre for putting in place these prestigious awards, so that people in the field can share experience and learn from each other, and all of us can enjoy the abundance of excellent designs and celebrate the strengths of our talents.
In talking about the HKDC awards, mention must be made of the BODW. The BODW provides the best backdrop for the presentation of the HKDC awards, as we have all the elites of the global design and business world gathering in town to talk, share and network on the business of design, innovation and branding.
As a government that puts much emphasis on the promotion of design, we shall continue to work closely with the Hong Kong Design Centre as our strategic partner in the promotion of design, and ensure that the BODW and the HKDC awards continue to flourish and grow into even higher standing events.
I wish once again to congratulate all the award winners for their outstanding achievements, and I hope all our visitors will have a pleasant stay in Hong Kong.
Thank you and have a good evening.
Ends/Friday, December 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 21:03
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